Mafin and Begu's Magnificent Adventures!
by Story Nado
Summary: Two Frieza Force lackeys escape in a battered spaceship in a desperate attempt to get away from the tyrant's empire. They end up on Earth, meet the Z Fighters, and begin training with them on the Lookout. Over time, the duo meet several other characters, including a certain female bio-android, who Mafin slowly starts to fall in love with. DISCONTINUED as of 7/15/20.
1. Meet The Duo!

**Age 763**

Deep in the vastness of space, a lone spaceship travels across a field of stars.

It was a classic 50's style spaceship, but it appeared damaged; tape was placed over various holes on the ship's entire front side, and some of the glass cover was cracked in places. The driver inside was having a very difficult time trying to control the ship.

The driver's name was Mafin, a rouge Frieza Force lackey. He had orange skin along with blonde hair in the style of a mullet.

Alongside him was Begu, another former lackey and Mafin's friend. He was a member of Appule's race, and thus had similar features, such as purple skin, yellow spots, etc. The only difference was that Begu was rather short compared to members of his race, who were usually of average height. This, understandably, annoyed him to no end.

Both men were currently trying to maintain control of the ship.

"You couldn't have just borrowed a Frieza Force pod, could ya?!", growled Begu.

"I had no other choice, we were in a hurry!", said Mafin in a nervous tone of voice.

"We should have taken two of those Saiyan pods. Would've been much more comfortable for my butt.", grumbled Begu.

Mafin scoffed and said,"Well, excuse me, but us lackeys don't exactly have the same privileges as the Saiyans!"

The ship then rumbled, causing both men to fall to their knees.

Mafin checked the coordinates, which only showed static.

It finally showcased the destination and Mafin said,"We're about to enter some random planet called Earth."

Begu said,"As long as its far away from Frieza, I'm good!"

Sparks flew everywhere, and the duo realized that the ship wouldn't last much longer.

Both men nervously looked at one another, and held onto each other for dear life, screaming their heads off as the ship rapidly fell towards the blue planet.

* * *

At Kame House, Master Roshi was sitting back on his couch, watching one of his excersise videos, but for... _ahem_...other reasons.

As he stared at the screen, his mouth drooling in awe, the Turtle shook his head and sighed, "Seriously? I can't believe that you still have rather disgusting intrests. I mean, really!"

Master Roshi angrily shouted,"Quiet! Can't you see that I'm busy?!"

The Turtle tried to retort, but sighed, knowing that it was pointless trying to reason with Roshi.

Then, all of a sudden, the busted spaceship crash landed in Kame House, creating a massive hole in the roof.

Master Roshi screamed,"NO! MY FURNITURE! MY TELEVISION! MY MAGAZINES!"

The Turtle nervously said,"I-I think you have bigger problems to worry about..."

The spaceship' dome capsule opened, and Mafin and Begu slowly walked out, visibly exhausted.

Master Roshi then grabbed them by their heads, bashed them against each other, and angrily screeched out, "DO YOU IDIOTS REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY HOUSE?!"

The two lackeys nervously looked around at their surroundings.

The living room was completely damaged, as several items were all over the place and the red couch, black table, and small television were engulfed in black soot.

The two men looked back at Roshi, who was glaring daggers at them.

Roshi sighed and wiped his forehead using a hankerchief.

He then said,"You too are gonna clean this house up, and restore it to exactly how it once was."

Mafin and Begu glared at the ground, not pleased with their predicament.

* * *

 **It seems Mafin and Begu have their work cut out for them!**

 **But how will the other Z Fighters react to two former Frieza Force lackeys?**

 **Find out next time on Mafin and Begu's Magnificent Adventures!**


	2. Exciting News From Bulma!

Mafin and Begu scrubbed the floor ferociously, quickly trying to finish their work.

It was the late afternoon and they were almost done with cleaning the entire living room of soot and debris. Their battered spaceship was put outside.

Even though they had fled the Frieza Force, the duo still wore their battle armors and blasters, just in case anything out of the ordinary attacked them.

Mafin wiped away sweat from his brow and said,"Almost finished, man."

Begu growled, "I hate this!"

"Hey, we were the ones to destroy his living room, so we have to repay him.", said Mafin as he dipped another face cloth into water, wrung it out, and wiped the remaing soot off the floor.

Mafin sighed and said,"At least it's better than Frieza, right?"

Begu glared at the floor and said,"Yeah, I guess..."

Both men eventually finished and stood up.

Mafin took off his gloves and placed his hands on the floor. Begu folded his arms and stared at what Mafin was about to do.

Mafin's arms and hands glowed, and the floor instantly dried up.

Begu gasped and asked,"Where'd that technique come from?!"

Mafin replied,"It's a technique passed down from my people called the Heating Hand of Pesutori."

"That name sounds bland and ridiculous at the same time.", deadpanned Begu.

Just then, both men heard the door open, and Mafin quickly put his gloves back on.

Master Roshi then arrived from outside carrying several small metallic cylinders.

"Oh, you guys are finally done?", asked Roshi. The duo nodded in response. The Turtle Hermit sighed in relief and procceded to click on one of the devices like a pen.

He threw it at the floor and out popped a newly created couch, looking exactly similar to the previous one.

Mafin and Begu stared in amazement as Roshi did the same to the other devices, and out popped several items like a small television, a black table, and certain magazines that won't be described in this story.

As Roshi sat down, he saw the Turtle waddle near his feet, satisfied that his master has returned.

Mafin and Begu then sat down on oposite sides next to Roshi, and deeply sighed in relief, satisfied that they were finally done with restoring the living room.

The old master awkwardly cleared his throat and asked,"So, uh, you guys work for the Saiyans?"

Both men yelped at the name and immediately fell to the floor.

Begu growled and yelled,"WE'RE NOT WITH THOSE PEOPLE! THEY WORKED FOR FRIEZA! WE LANDED HERE TO GET AWAY FROM THAT, YOU OLD FART!"

Roshi glared and yelled back,"WELL YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT! AND HOW DARE YOU DISREPECT YOUR ELDERS! YOU ARE SPEAKING IN THE PRESENCE OF MASTER ROSHI!"

Mafin nervously chuckled and said, "Ok, calm down guys!"

Begu muttered,"Whatever."

Mafin quickly sat back on the couch, slightly weirded out by the large turtle near Roshi.

He then took a deep breath and explained,"What my friend meant to say was that we used to work with the Frieza Force, whose leader held the Saiyans under his thumb."

Master Roshi asked, "You mean you actually worked for that alien tyrant?"

Mafin replied, "Technically, we worked for one of his henchmen, but, in a way, yes."

Roshi stroked his beard and said,"Huh. That must've sucked."

Begu chuckled,"Oh yeah it did! We were a part of a group of lackeys!"

Mafin shuddered at the memory and said, "Under the watchful eye of our former commander Zarbon, we were forced to do Frieza's bidding, and if we stepped out of line, Zarbon would report this to the tyrant, and he would basically kill us."

Roshi was about to ask how they managed to escape, but the door suddenly opened, and a blue haired woman walked in. She wore a lab coat over a green striped shirt and jeans.

* * *

"Bulma, what are you doing here?", asked the Turtle Hermit as he walked over to the young woman.

Bulma replied,"I forgot to tell you that the Namekian Dragon Balls officially become active tomorr—AAAAAH!"

She fell to the ground in a panic and stammered,"F-Frieza Soldiers!"

Master Roshi stood in front of the duo and said,"Don't worry! They've cut ties with that tyrant!"

Bulma asked, "A-Are you sure? This isn't a joke, right?"

Roshi calmly nodded and said, "Come here, child."

Begu whispered to Mafin, "He does realize we're actually 19, right?"

Mafin immediately shushed him.

Nervous about what the newcomer might do, he awkwardly walked up and stood next to Roshi.

Mafin cleared his throat and stammered out,"H-He-Hello...um, human woman. We're trying to, uh, reform, and s-stay away from Frieza's grasp."

He said this while also simultaneously twisting and twrirling his bangs in a nervous manner.

Bulma thought, " _Aw, he doesn't seem too bad. Kinda cute."_

Begu laughed out loud and said, "Seriously?! You can't even talk to a girl?!"

" _This shortie on the other hand..."_

Mafin blushed and angrily yelled out,

"SHUT UP! FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I CAN TALK TO A WOMAN!"

Bulma chuckled and said, "Relax, it's cool. I'm Bulma Briefs, and welcome to our planet!"

Mafin inwardly sighed in relief, satisfied that the blue-haired woman wouldn't kill them.

He smiled and said," It's a pleasure to meet you Bulma. I'm Mafin, and the guy behind me is my friend, Begu."

Begu waved at Bulma and said, "Hey!"

Master Roshi said, "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask for your names. Thanks for clearin' that up."

"Anyways", resumed Bulma,"we're going to use the Namekian Dragon Balls to summon Porunga tomorrow."

Master Roshi asked, "Why not just summon him now? Plus, why'd you tell me in person when you could have just called me up?"

Bulma sighed and replied, "Because most of us are quite tired, Chi-Chi definitely wouldn't want Gohan up at around midnight, and I am exhausted from managing various Namekians and making sure they're alright. Also, I also wanted to see how you were doing."

Mafin and Begu stared at the humans, confused at what they were even talking about.

Namekian Dragon Balls? Porunga?

Were they referring to those orbs that Frieza was interested in?

Mafin spoke up,"Would these Dragon Balls happen to grant wishes?"


	3. How The Duo Escaped!

Bulma replied,"Uh, yeah, why do you ask?"

Mafin explained,"Well, several officers said they were going to planet Namek to search for some magical orbs called Dragon Balls. But, we have no idea how that turned out since we left the Force soon after."

Bulma asked,"Wait a minute, how did you even escape?"

Begu cockily grinned and replied,"When we were scheduled to depart from Equus-4, we crushed our scounters, found this old fashioned spaceship that was battered up, and we took off in secret!

Mafin nodded and said,"We faked our deaths by finding a bunch of old Equus spaceship parts and raw meat located in the trunk of the ship. Afterwards, we just threw it in the vastness of space."

Bulma gagged in disgust at the raw meat part, while Roshi raised his eyebrows in suprise, amazed that the Frieza Force could be so easily fooled by that fake out.

Master Roshi stroked his beard and said,"You seemed really desperate to get away."

Both men nodded, then glared at the ground.

Mafin quietly spoke, "We had a rather terrible history with the Frieza Force..."

Mafin and Begu looked up at the two humans, who gave rather concerned stares.

Bulma then gave a warm smile and said," Hey, it's ok. You don't have to tell us now."

The former lackeys inwardly sighed at her response.

Bulma let out a long yawn and said,  
"Well, I'm heading home. See you guys in the morning!"

She cheerfully waved at the group and they waved back.

The Capsule Corp. scientist ran off and got in her hovercar. The vehicle sped off across the ocean.

Master Roshi yawned, "Alright, it's gettin' late. Unless either of your species don't require sleep, here you go."

He pulled out two more devices, pressed them and out popped two beds with light cream colored sheets.

One was medium sized for Mafin and the other was child sized for Begu.

Begu glared at Roshi and muttered,"Very funny."

The Turtle Hermit stretched his back and said,"Good night, you too."

Mafin bowed in respect and said,"Good night, good sir."

He motioned Begu to do the same, to which the smaller alien did while muttering about his bed.

As the master went upstairs, the duo got under their respctive covers.

Mafin said, "Good night, Begu!"

Begu replied,"Good night, dude!"

While Begu fell fast asleep, Mafin stayed up, contemplating their current situation.

What are they supposed to do now that they have succesfully left the Frieza Force?

Would the other humans accept them despite being former lackeys for the empire?

And what of the Frieza Force itself? Is it still out there?

Have they picked up on the fake out "death" and are now searching to kill them for their treachery?

All these questions rattled Mafin's mind as he let out a small sigh and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Mafin woke up, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.

He saw that Begu's bed was completely empty, with sheets completely wrinkled up and a pillow on the floor. Mafin even spotted some drool on the pillow, which made him recoil in disgust.

Mafin got up and smelled a delicious, pork like aroma comig from nearby. He turned around and saw Begu and Roshi eating breakfast at the small black table.

"Hey!", said Begu as he happily munched on a piece of toast. Mafin said,"Hey!"

Master Roshi chuckled,"Come sit and join us! I'll fix you a plate!"

Mafin smiled and sat next to the two men, specifically next to Begu.

He waited as Roshi put the various foods on his plate, and as the plate was finally handed over to him, Mafin smelled the juicy aroma.

Mafin said,"This smells great, what is it?"

Begu replied,"The old man says that these are scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon! It's so good! Better than what we had on the FF mothership!"

Mafin examined the food for a few more seconds, then began munching on a piece of toast.

His eyes lit up, and he soon began devouring the toast rapidly. This was soon followed by the eggs, and after that, bacon.

He set his plate down and sighed in satisfaction. Master Roshi gave a wide eyed stare at Mafin, who asked,"What is it?"

The Turtle Hermit stammered, "You ate that in 5 seconds!"

Mafin nervously said,"Oh! I'm sorry i-if it was quite rude..."

Master Roshi waved his hand dismissively and replied,"No, no, its fine!"

He thought to himself, " _I haven't seen anyone eat that fast since Goku ate out a whole restaurant all_ _those years ago..._ "

Roshi chuckled at the memory.

Aliens' appitites, whether it be Saiyan or anyone else, can be very strange, but also sometimes amazing. And speaking of aliens...

"Gentlemen," asked Roshi ,"ready to go to Capsule Corp?"


	4. Off To Capsule Corp!

Both men nodded to confirm yes.

The Turtle Hermit got up, walked to the door, and went outside.

Curious of what he might do, the duo followed him.

Master Roshi took a deep breath, then called out, "BABY GAMERA! TO ME!"

Suddenly, a spinning tortoise shell came into view and flew near the Kame House.

It landed near Roshi's feet, and with it being in full view, the duo could see that this creature was slightly larger than the Turtle that lived in Kame House. It also had massive tusks and sharp teeth, but did not appear to be a threat.

It gave a small shriek, and said, "At your service, my lord."

Roshi affectionately pat it on the head and asked, "Can you take all of us to Capsule Corp?"

Both Mafin and Begu flinched at the idea of being forced to stand on a tortise's shell, since it would be incredibly awkward if all of them stood extremely close to one another while on the spinning kaiju.

That, and they also didn't want to risk vomiting up their breakfast.

Mafin spoke up,"Actually, both of us are fine flying on our own."

Baby Gamera asked," Are you sure?"

Begu levitated off the ground, and asked with an annoyed tone,

"Does this answer your question?"

Baby Gamera nodded in response and retracted into his shell. Master Roshi hopped onto the small kaiju, who began to levitate off the ground.

Mafin and Begu levitated next to Roshi, and the three of them took off to Capsule Corp.

The duo flew behind Baby Gamera and Roshi to talk in private.

Mafin asked,"Begu, I was wondering...do you think the other humans will accept us? Despite our former alliegance with the Frieza Force?"

Begu rolled his eyes and replied,"Mafin, if that old man and Bulma were able to accept us, I'm sure other people can as well. Heck, maybe this planet has probably never even heard of the Force or that prick of a tyrant!"

Mafin nodded and internally exhaled, his mind at a slight ease, though he was still quite cautious.

Even though he knew Begu was probably right, he still needed to be sure of it himself.

"Also, how'd ya know the name of this planet's species?", asked Begu, with a curious tone of voice.

Briefly taken out of his train of thought, Mafin replied, "Oh, I picked up a copy of _Guide to the Universe Manual_ when we were off duty! I was really interested about the other planets in the universe, as well as the lives of the various species out there!"

Begu asked, "Then why'd ya say, 'some random planet called Earth' ?"

Mafin nervously rubbed the back of his head and replied, "Um, well, because, I wasn't sure how'd you react if I told you about humans."

Begu said,"Whatever. We're on Earth now, so it doesn't really matter."

Both men were silent for a bit, with no other sound occupying their trip, other than the sound of Baby Gamera spinning.

Then, Begu asked, "So, uh, how's that book?"

Mafin instantly perked up and he excitedly said,"It's an awesome read! There are so many amazing planets! Ones that we've seen and haven't seen! And so many unique races and languages! Plus, their rich histories! Currently, now I'm on page 2,384!"

Begu shook his head and chuckled,"Nerd!"

As the short alien laughed, Mafin pouted and crossed his arms.

He then smirked and said,"At least I don't fantasize about being extremly muscular and powerful."

Upon hearing that comment, Begu glared at Mafin, who laughed in satisfaction.

They landed near a large dome like building, titled, "Capsule Corporation".

* * *

The duo flew down near the entrance, and saw small white droids flying around.

Roshi hopped off of Baby Gamera, and quickly ran towards a nearby bush to vomit up his breakfast.

Mafin winced in disgust while Begu covered his eyes, stating,"Well, now I'm definitely _not_ riding on that thing!"

Master Roshi walked towards the boys and growled, "You didn't see anything..."

He then quickly ran to the entrance and rang the doorbell.

The door opened to reveal Bulma wearing a lab coat over a blue tube top and jeans.

Bulma smiled and happily said,"Hi guys!"

She motioned the three of them to enter the lobby, and the trio proceeded to do so.

Afterwards, they all began walking down the hall towards the Capsule Corp. patio.

"How are you guys doing on your second day here?", asked Bulma.

Mafin happily replied, "Oh, we're doing great! Food is incredible, and the atmosphere is clear!"

Begu added,"Plus, Frieza isn't anywhere to be seen, so that's a plus!"

Bulma grinned and said,"Well, I got some good news for you two! You don't have to worry about him anymore!"

They looked at the Capsule Corp. scientist in confusion.

"See, your former leader has been defeated by the Saiyan known as Kako..Carrot...um...I'll just say Son Goku!"

Mafin and Begu looked on in shock at the unexpected news.

The menacing tyrant, the evil emperor of the Universe...was defeated by a mere Saiyan?!

Mafin remained in shock while Begu whooped and hollered, and ran around the lobby like a child on a sugar rush.

His mouth slowly curled into a smile, and he shouted, "YES! YAHOO!"

Mafin then quickly covered his mouth and nervously said,"S-Sorry about that! Didn't mean to wake up any neighbors..."

Bulma chuckled,"It's ok! You should be glad that jerk was defeated!"

"Bulma, the Namekians are ready!", said a young voice.

Bulma turned around and saw a little boy with black hair walk towards her.

"Who are these guys?", asked the young child.

Upon recognizing the Frieza Force armor, the boy assumed they were a threat, and got into a defensive stance.

Mafin yelped out in fear and hid behind Begu, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Bulma immediately put a stop to the potential skirmish by kneeling down to the boy's height and saying, "Hold on, Gohan! These guys are defects from Frieza's army! They don't wanna hurt us! Right guys?"

Mafin nervously nodded and Begu simply gave an A-OK hand gesture.

Gohan stared at the duo for a bit longer.

" _Both of them don't seem like actual threats, and the orange guy looks pretty scared. Maybe its best not to fight these guys."_ , thought Gohan.

He nodded at the duo before finally dropping his stance.

Mafin sighed in relief, awkwardly chuckled, and stood next to Begu.

Begu grinned,"Great! Now that that's over with, let's introduce ourselves! My name's Begu, and this skinny guy next to me is Mafin."

Gohan smiled and said, "I'm Son Gohan! Nice to meet you!"

Both men gasped at the name and sputtered out in unison,"S-S-Son...G-G-Gohan?!"

Gohan said, "Um, yeah..."

Mafin asked, "Does that mean you're Goku's offspring?!"

Gohan grinned and replied, "Yep! Although, unlike my dad, I'm not really interested in fighting, and I only fight when my friends are being threatened by bad guys. I'm actually hoping to become a scholar one day!"

The Pesutorian stared in amazement, then smiled,"You really are different for a Saiyan offspring."

Bulma patted Gohan on the head and said,"Well, this little guy thankfully takes after his mother more than his father, and she's, er, quite strict when it comes to her son's studies."

Roshi asked, "Um, don't we have Namekians to send home?"

Bulma replied, "Right! Let's go make the wish! But first, I need you guys," referring to Mafin and Begu,"to take off your armor."

Mafin nervously blushed while Begu said,"We'll look ridiculous without our armor!"

Bulma muttered,"To be honest, you guys already look ridiculous..."

Hearing this comment, Begu growled, "WHAT?!"

Bulma chuckled at Begu's over-the-top reaction, as it reminded her of a certain Saiyan prince.

The scientist explained, "From what Gohan told me, those Frieza Force guys brutally antagonized and slaughtered several Namekians at once. We also deduced that Vegeta, the self proclaimed "Prince of All Saiyans" killed an entire village himself. They're alive again, thanks to the Dragon Balls, but they still have extremely bad memories of those events."

Mafin said, "So, in order to avoid causing a panic, you want us to remove our armor..."

Bulma replied,"Yep!"

Mafin and Begu stared at one another, then both of them sighed and accepted the situation at hand.

The boys proceeded to remove their armor, and tossed the gear to the side.

Bulma said, "They'll be safely stored in two capsules, and you'll get them back later on. You guys have nothing to worry about!"

She cast a friendly wink to the duo, who nodded in response and gave the scientist a thumbs up afterwards.

Then, the group continued walking towards the Capsule Corp patio, where the Namekians would be waiting for them.


	5. Meet The Z Fighters!

Mafin and Begu saw a whole crowd of Namekians gathered together, as well as two other heroes; a martial artist with wild black hair, and a shorter bald man who wore a polo and shorts.

They also saw another Namekian standing nearby an older looking man with glasses and a labcoat.

This one wore a big white cape and a turban, and he visibly held the wisdom of an experienced warrior.

Mafin assumed this Namekian had made Earth his home long ago, since he clearly wasn't interested in joining the others.

Suddenly, the sky turned black, and a golden stream of light shot upward.

The light faded, and Mafin and Begu could not believe their eyes at the being that floated before them: a humungous, muscular, humanoid green dragon that had glowing red eyes and gave off a powerful aura.

This was Porunga, the Namekian Dragon.

Mafin and Begu saw a small Namekian child chanting to the ancient being, but they couldn't make out what he was saying due to the chant being spoken only in his native language.

Then, the eyes of Porunga lit up, and the former lackeys saw a muscular three eyed warrior with a small pale white creature teleport into view.

The creature affectionately hugged the warrior, as if they had been friends for a long time.

The Namekian child made a second chant, and the eyes of Porunga lit up once more.

The duo watched as Gohan hesitantly said his goodbyes to the same child, and hugged him.

Afterwards, the crowd of Namekians were teleported away, and the Namekian Dragon Balls along with it.

As the sky turned back to its normal shade of blue, the duo saw Bulma affectionately rub Gohan's head in a reaffirming manner.

The young Saiyan hybrid then gave a soft smile and walked over to the short bald warrior.

The blue haired scientist turned around, walked towards them, and smiled.

"So, how was your experience with Porunga?", asked Bulma.

Begu stammered, trying to find the right words, while Mafin replied,"It was...incredible."

Bulma chuckled,"Yeah, Porunga is pretty intimidating. Who knew that Namek's Dragon was _that_ gigantic!"

Mafin grinned and said,"Yeah, I know! It's amazing!"

"They're over here!", called out Gohan.

They saw the young Saiyan hybrid walk towards them.

He was clearly excited about something, as he had a cheerful smile on his face.

Begu greeted, "Hey Gohan! What's up?"

Gohan replied,"I wanna introduce you guys to my friends!"

He was joined by the short bald warrior, the wild haired martial artist, and the muscular three eyed warrior.

Mafin cleared his throat and said,"Um, hey friends of Gohan! I'm Mafin, and this is my friend, Begu."

The Pesutorian bowed in respect, as did the purple Octorian, albeit in a quick manner.

The three heroes also bowed in unison.

Afterwards, the short bald warrior introduced himself, "I'm Krillin, nice to meet you!"

"Name's Yamcha!", said the martial artist as he winked at the duo.

"Tien Shinhan.", said the three eyed warrior in a calm manner.

"So, Gohan said you guys are former Frieza soldiers, right?", asked Krillin.

Mafin nervously scratched the back of his head and replied, "Uh, y-yeah! P-please don't kill us!"

Krillin chuckled and said, "Nah, if Gohan says you're not a threat, then hey, you're not a threat."

Yamcha spoke up, "It's pretty cool how you two avoided Frieza's wrath! For us, the battle on Namek felt like a nightmare from beginning to end..."

Tien quietly nodded in agreement, and sweat emitted from his brow as he began to speak.

He said, "Listening to King Kai's descriptions of each fight...we just couldn't fathom it. Frieza was...terrifying."

Begu said,"That's the Emperor of the Universe for ya..."

Krillin sighed,"Thankfully, not anymore."

The rest of the group nodded in response.

Mafin asked, "Um, I was wondering, who is King Kai? Is he some sort of leader on this planet?"

Krillin replied,"No, that would be King Furry, who is an anthropomorphic dog. King Kai, on the other hand, is some master that Goku and these guys trained with. He lives in Otherworld, which is-"

Begu interrupted,"So he's a GHOST?! What kind of training are you guys dealing with?!"

Mafin slapped Begu's bulbous head and angrily hissed, "Don't interrupt him Begu!"

The bald warrior said, "It's alright. As I was saying, he lives in Otherworld, which is...technically the afterlife, and it's also where guys like Goku and our friends here got to train. I never got to experience that myself, sadly."

He then awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.

Mafin, confused, asked, "Why were you guys even in Otherworld to begin with?"

"Because Nappa, my former comrade, killed them all.", said a new voice.

Mafin and Begu turned to see the Saiyan Prince, Vegeta, leaning on a nearby pillar, with his arms folded. The duo fearfully yelped in response.

Vegeta then made a wicked smirk.

Yamcha cleared his throat, and the duo turned his attention to him.

The former bandit further explained, "First, we met up with King Yemma, who told us the directions to the planet. We traveled through Snake Way really fast, and we saw this small green planet. We flew up to it, and the planet is really dense by the way, so we had to remove our weighted clothing. Soon, we met up with this blue pudgy guy named King Kai, who forced us to tell a joke before we started training. Piccolo was the worst of us!"

Piccolo had overheard the entire conversation so far, so when Yamcha made that comment, he shot a glare at Yamcha, who fearfully shivered in response.

Tien contiued, "We managed to achieve victory when Chiaotzu told a joke about clocks. Afterwards, King Kai wanted us to chase his pet monkey, and Yamcha managed to win that one."

The group then heard Bulma perform a spit take nearby.

Piccolo walked up to the heroes and said, "Let me finish this recap. Over the next couple of weeks, we trained nonstop with King Kai, who helped us become much stronger than we ever were against the Saiyans. We were even allowed to wear our weighted clothing again, which helped greatly in the process. So, on Namek, as Frieza was about to reach Gohan and Krillin, I was the first to be revived."

Begu grinned and exclaimed,"That sounds awesome! That blue guy must be really powerful if he made ya strong as Frieza!"

Krillin cheerfully said, "Piccolo held a pretty good fight against Frieza, no doubt about that!"

Gohan solemnly added, "...Until Frieza transformed again."

Mafin and Begu exclaimed, "HE CAN TRANSFORM?!"

Krillin nervously laughed and said, "But that's a discussion for another day. The good news is that he's dead and hopefully won't ever be coming back!"

Mafin and Begu looked at one another and sighed in resignation, accepting that the rest of the discussion would have to wait.

Yamcha asked, "Hey, why don't you guys train with us?"

The duo stared at the bandit with shocked expressions.

Mafin stammered, "T-Train...w-with...you g-guys?"

Krillin replied, "Yeah! If you guys are going to live here, you'll need to defend the Earth as well, just in case the planet gets invaded again. No offense, Vegeta."

The Saiyan Prince merely scoffed in response.

Yamcha added, "Plus, it would be rather handy for more additions to the team!"

Tien said, "It absolutely would be very helpful."

Piccolo merely nodded in agreement.

Krillin asked, "So, you guys in?"

Mafin and Begu looked at one another once more, each with a determined expression on their faces.

They saw many horrors in their time with Frieza, and they knew that they couldn't let this planet endure those same horrors.

The duo exclaimed in unison, "YES!"

* * *

The next morning at Kame House, Mafin woke up to see a rather pudgy samurai with wild hair standing next to his bed. He promptly yelped in shock and fell to the floor.

In response to this, Begu woke up in a startled fashion. He gave a short glance at the pudgy samurai, and said, "Hey."

The samurai greeted back," 'Sup."

Mafin rubbed his eyes and asked,"W-Who are you?"

The samurai nonchalantly picked his nose and replied,"Name's Yajirobe. Just wanted to see if you guys wanted to get some grub."

Mafin's eyes lit up at that last word and he immediately got out of bed.

He excitedly asked, "Where's the food? Is it already here?"

Yajarobe mischievously smirked and said, "Oh, there willbe."

He grabbed his katanna blade.

"Come on, let's head on out!", he said as he opened the patio door, allowing fresh sunlight to come in.

Begu flinched and yelled,"AAH! MY EYES!"

Mafin, on the other hand, nervously muttered, "Wha...?"

Yajarobe pulled out a capsule, presssed it, and threw it to the ground.

It popped out a red hovercar, and the pudgy samurai hopped in the front seat.

"You guys coming in or what?", asked Yajarobe as he tapped the steering wheel.

Begu asked,"You do realize we can fly, right?"

Yajarobe replied, "Yeah, it's pretty obvious since you guys are aliens. And I know that one of you guys might try to take off, and I can't have that. So, like I said, are you coming in, or what?"

The duo sighed and flew over to the hovercar, where they sat in the backseat.

The samurai then ignited the engine, and the hovercar instantly took off.


	6. The Person From The Future

Deep in the lush green jungle, two sabertooth tiger cubs were having a tug-of-war over the leg of a recently slain deer.

The small scuffle was about to heat up, when suddenly, a light blue portal opened.

Upon seeing this, the small cubs stopped their scuffle, and quickly ran off out of fear.

A mysterious stranger welding a sword then walked out of the portal.

The stranger, who wore a gas mask, took out a letter, quickly read it, and nodded in confirmation.

Carefully taking the gas mask off, we see that it is a adult female heroine, clearly around the age of 23.

The heroine had peach skin, large blue eyes, curly blonde hair, along with pointy ears.

She wore a small, blue jacket over a light green, futuristic-style spandex suit.

The heroine inhaled the air, and exhaled it out, repeating this process again to make sure the air wasn't toxic.

"Great, I'm here!", exclaimed the heroine.

She put the gas mask back inside its capsule, and placed it in the pocket of her jacket.

She then put her sword in its sheath, and placed the letter in the same pocket.

Looking around, she saw nothing but trees, plants, and not much else, save for the occassional animal that scurried along the dirt of the jungle, or the sight of a small bird that flew across the area.

The heroine thought, " _Ok, Kappukeki, you followed the time coordinates, now where are they..."_

Just then, she heard two voices in the distance, one being angry and irritated, and the other being much more calm.

As the voices came closer, Kappukkeki instantly flew up to a nearby tree, landing safely on one of the larger branches.

She saw the duo arrive in full glory, complete with their Frieza Force armors, since they essentially had nothing else to wear.

Kappukeki was internally screaming in her head, _"OH MY GOSH! IT'S ACTUALLY THEM!"_

In order to avoid being seen, the heroine pressed a button on her futuristic wristwatch, causing her to turn invisible.

Curious, she listened in on the conversation.

Begu groaned in frustration, while Mafin swatted away flies that buzzed around him.

Begu growled, "I can't believe Yajirobe sent us into this stupid jungle to hunt for our own food! This sucks!"

Mafin sighed, "I know, and I just wanted to rest and eat from the comfort of Master Roshi's house..."

Begu angrily said, "I'm _so_ mad, that I could just...just-!"

He grabbed a nearby rock, and flung it at a nearby T. rex, causing it to stop feasting on its meal.

It slowly turned around, and as the dinosaur saw the duo, it flashed its sharp teeth at them.

Mafin nervously whispered, "N-Now you've done it!"

Begu merely whimpered in response.

The T. rex roared at the duo and as it lunged towards them, they quickly ran away.

The dinosaur chased after the duo, and as Begu looked back to see that it was right behind them, he let out a high-pitched scream.

Kappukeki couldn't help but giggle at the antics that unfolded beneath her.

The heroine flew after the duo, curious about where this chase led to.

Mafin pulled out his laser gun, and tried blasting the dinosaur, but missed.

The blast went straight towards a nearby raptor, and as a result, it gave chase to the duo as well.

Begu yelped as the raptor nearly bit him, but thankfully missed.

Begu frantically asked, "Why didn't we just fly up?"

Mafin's eyes widened, and he mentally slapped himself for not thinking of that sooner.

He then fired at one of the raptor's legs, causing it to fall and tumble over.

The Pesutorian grabbed Begu's hand, and together, they flew behind the T. rex, which left it very confused.

Sensing an opportunity, Begu blasted the dinosaur straight through the head, resulting in it plummeting towards the ground.

As the duo landed safely, Begu cheered in delight, while Mafin sighed in relief.

Mafin then slapped Begu across the face, and scolded,"Don't you dare do that again! That was a really stupid move!"

Begu rolled his eyes and muttered,"Sure, whatever..."

Kappukeki smiled and put her hand over her heart.

She thought, " _They're just like how you said they would be, Mom. Always getting into something random, but managing to push through it."_

The heroine then watched as the Octorian walked over to the dinosaur's body.

He tried to drag the dinosaur by the tail, but did not succeed.

Mafin went over to Begu and said, "Alright, let me try."

The Pesutorian also tried dragging the dinosaur away, but he too failed miserably.

Then, the duo tried to pull the dinosaur together by the tail, only for it to fall on top of them.

With some decent teamwork, they managed to pull each other out from underneath the tail.

The short Octorian groaned in frustration and asked, "Now, how are we gonna drag this guy over to Yajirobe, if we don't even have the strength to do it?!"

Mafin replied,"Why don't we just grab the creature by its mouth and fly it over to him? I could take the upper jaw, and you could take the lower one."

Begu rolled his eyes and calmly stated,"Dude, that right there is a _really_ stupid idea, and it's stupid because like I said, we're not strong enough."

Mafin frowned,"Yeah, but we've got to try something..."

The duo stood there for a while, trying to think about what to do next.

Kappukeki, feeling sorry for them, was about to float down, but was interrupted by the T. rex's unconcious body apparently levitating above the ground.

It turned out that Piccolo was simply holding up the dinosaur's body, safely carrying it away with one hand.

He effortlessly tossed it back onto the ground, and turned towards the duo.

"What are you two doing here?", asked Piccolo.

Begu said, "We could ask you the same thing."

The Namekian replied, "For your information, I was looking for a proper spot to train quietly. You're lucky that I just so happened to find the both of you."

Mafin then spoke up,"Sorry Piccolo, we didn't mean to cause any trouble. We were just hunting for breakfast, since Yajirobe...forced us to."

Piccolo smirked and said, "That guy? Give me a break."

Begu chuckled, "Yeah, it's ridiculous!"

Mafin pointed at the dinosaur, "We've been trying to figure out an effective way to bring this slain beast over to him. Could you, if you're not too busy, help us out?"

Piccolo nodded and walked over to the dead dinosaur.

The Namekian then cut off the dinosaur's tail, and chopped that into slices of varying sizes, all with the swiftness of two fingers.

Mafin and Begu's eyes widened in response.

Piccolo said as he walked off, "Consider this as me being generous."

Begu grinned,"Well, at least we don't have to drag the creature around anymore! That's an achievement in my book!"

Mafin then asked, "Um, how are we going to bring these over to Yajirobe?"

Begu smirked and replied, "I've got an idea."

He spotted two saber-toothed tiger cubs having a tug-of-war over the leg of a Giselle.

Begu interrupted the match and said, "Hello felines of Earth, we need you to bring these pieces of creature meat over to the beach part of the island. Do you understand?"

The two cubs stared at him with confused expressions.

Begu groaned in anger and picked up the Giselle leg to prove his point.

"Like this!", said Begu as he threw the leg all the way over to the island shore.

Mafin sighed and facepalmed himself, as he knew what would come next.

The cubs growled in anger and immediately attacked Begu, creating a massive cartoonish dust cloud in the process. Begu let out several high pitched squeals as he was getting relentlessly scratched and bitten.

Kappukeki sighed and thought, " _Looks like I'll have to intervene. This event doesn't look like it has any major impact on history anyway. Hopefully, this will be quick."_

She pressed the same button two more times on her wristwatch, which switched off her invisible mode. She pressed another button, and a massive net was released from it.

Kappukeki grabbed the net, flew over and threw it on top of Begu, who was still screaming like a little girl.

Then, the heroine landed between the duo and the cubs.

She glared down at the two cubs, which caused them to run off in fright.

Kappukeki then turned around to face the duo, who were suprised by the random newcomer.

Mafin stammered, "T-Thank y-you, madam!"

The Pesutorian eagerly bowed in respect.

Begu, while struggling to get out of the net, said, "Uh…yeah, thanks!"

Kappukeki smiled, then used her sword to slice the net in half, freeing Begu.

The short Octorian sighed in relief and said,"Oh, I feel SO much better."

He saw the dinosaur slices, and asked, "Uh, could you wrap those up?"

The heroine blasted out another net and carefully wrapped it around the slices of meat.

Begu then gave a simple thumbs up in response.

Afterwards, Mafin introduced himself and Begu to Kappukeki.

Kappukeki, who was holding back excitement, exclaimed, "It's really a big honor to meet you two!"

The duo looked at one another, then looked back at the heroine as if she had three heads.

"What do you mean?", they asked in unison.

Kappukeki replied, "Well, you guys are really big deals back in my time!"

Mafin scratched his head in confusion and asked, "Wait, what does your 'time' mean?"

Begu asked, "Are you saying you're from the future or something?"

The heroine then realized her mistake and thought, " _Aw crap! Now how am I going to explain this...?"_

Kappukeki nervously stammered,"Well, you see...it...well, umm..."

The duo, eagerly awaiting her answer, said in unison, "Yeah?"

"Uhhh..."

Kappukeki trailed off, and she nervously stroked her hair.

The three of them were in an awkward silence, and the only sounds that could be heard were of birds chirping and flies buzzing.

Kappukeki finally gave in and sighed,"Yes. I'm from the future."

The duo gasped in unison, amazed by this relevation.

Mafin exclaimed, "That sounds incredible!"

Begu agreed, "It's awesome!"

Kappukeki sternly said, "But you can't tell anyone this, because I don't know how the people of this time would react to the idea of _actual_ time travel existing."

The duo nodded in response.

Mafin then spoke up, "Well, we still think it sounds incredible!"

Begu replied,"Yep! All those fly-in movies about that stuff finally came true!"

Mafin asked, "So, what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

The heroine cheerfully replied, "I'm Kappukeki! Time traveling heroine from Age 805!"

The duo exclaimed in unison, "Age 805?!"

Kappukeki nodded and replied, "Yep! I was bored one day and I wanted to explore some history. I wanted to experience it with my own eyes, not through some dusty old textbook, or boring holograms. So, I stole a random sword, grabbed a time travel ray gun, and took it all the way back here!"

Begu's jaw dropped, while Mafin excitedly said, "Wow...Bulma said that calendars work differently on this planet...but who knew that they could go _that_ far in time! Technology must have really advanced by that point! I wonder if—"

Suddenly, the heroine's wristwatch beeped, interrupting Mafin.

Kappukeki frowned and said, "Sorry guys, but I gotta head back now."

"Aw, what?!", exclaimed the duo.

Mafin exclaimed, "But we just met!"

Begu added,"Yeah! Don't you want to stay a little while longer? You know, to tell us more about the awesome time travel stuff?"

Kappukeki sighed and sadly replied, "Sorry, but the future that I live in is pretty crazy, and it needs the planet's best heroes to protect it, and that includes myself."

Mafin asked, "But what about our futures? Do we help out our friends? Do we become stronger? Do we live long enough to see your era? Do we..."

He took a deep breath before continuing, "Do we ever become more than just former lackeys? I mean, I know that in your future, we become 'big deals', but do we actually become heroes?"

Kappukeki warmly smiled and replied, "I can't give too much away, but all I can say is this: please protect each other, help other, push each other to do excellent in this world. And even when enemies close in, and all hope seems lost, never, ever, give up!"

The duo, feeling even more determined than ever, exclaimed, "THANK YOU! WE WON'T LET YOU DOWN!"

Kappukeki gave a warm smile, and pulled out her time travel ray gun.

She pulled the trigger, which released a purple portal.

She took out the same capsule from her jacket, pressed it and threw it to the ground, which revealed her gas mask.

As the heroine took one step in, she stopped and took one last look at the duo, specifically Mafin.

Kappukeki grinned, gave a peace sign, and put her gas mask back on.

She then proceeded to walk in.

Before the duo could do anything else, the portal closed up and disappeared.

Begu sighed and said, "That was a lot to take in."

Mafin nodded and said, "Yeah, it was..."

Begu asked, "Wanna bring these creature bits over to Yajirobe? It's almost 12pm."

Mafin smiled and replied, "Yep!"

The Pesutorian immediately grabbed the net and hoisted it over his shoulder.

The duo then ran off to meet up with Yajirobe.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the time tunnel, Kappukeki activated a holographic picture from her wristwatch, and stared at it longingly.

The picture featured her, a much older Mafin, and an unknown woman, who for some reason, had white hair and wore a lab coat, along with thick-rimmed glasses.

Kappukeki thought, " _Good luck to you, Father. I hope we see each other again, soon."_


	7. A Conversation With A Samurai

The sun shined in the sky as Yajirobe gathered two logs for the firewood.

The samurai threw them up in the air, and chopped them up into vairous pieces with the use of his katana.

As he wiped the sweat from his brow, he saw Mafin and Begu arrive, complete with the food in tow.

"You guys arrived just in time!", said Yajirobe, "Now what did ya get?"

Mafin pulled out the futuristic net, and blasted it open, freeing the dinosaur chops.

Yajirobe grinned, "Nice! Now I just need to make a fire."

Mafin cracked his knuckles and said, "I got this covered."

He walked over to the pile of chopped up wood and took off his gloves.

Utilizing his race's signature technique, the Heating Hands of Pesutori, Mafin pressed his hands against the firewood and successfully ignited a flame.

Yajirobe smirked and said, "Nice work."

The samurai then carefully placed each of the dinosaur chops onto the crackling firewood.

Begu asked,"Wait, back at Kame House, didn't that technique make the floor dry up?"

Mafin replied,"Well, yes, but it can also burn wood as well. Pretty cool, right?"

Begu shrugged, "Eh, the first time around was cooler."

The three of them sighed, and looked at the clear blue sky, completely in silence.

Finally, Yajirobe spoke up, "So, uh, Krillin told me that you guys worked for that Frieza guy, right?"

Mafin replied, "Well, in a way, yes. When did you learn about that?"

Yajirobe responded, "I arrived at Capsule Corp a few hours after you guys left."

Mafin nodded, "Yeah, it was not a...fun experience working for the Frieza Force."

Begu growled,"He treated us lackeys like insects! If he were still alive, I would...well, I dunno, but I would do... _something!"_

He sighed, "Anything to honor my..."

The Octorian quickly looked away.

Mafin quietly nodded in agreement.

"Frieza...kind of changed our lives forever...", stated Mafin.

Yajirobe sensed that the Frieza Force apparently brought up bad memories for the duo, and decided not to press further.

The three of them stared at the sky for a few more minutes in complete silence.

"Alright", said the samurai, "looks like the meat is done."

Yajirobe grabbed a nearby stick, poked at the meat to double check, and picked off a piece.

He blew on the small piece of meat, and began eating it, prompting the duo to perform the same process.

Begu happily munched away and said, "Oh, this is _so_ good!"

Mafin agreed, "Yep! Dinosaur meat suprisingly tastes _amazing_!"

Yajarobe chuckled at the duo's joyful reactions and munched on his own piece.

The trio continued their feast before finally finishing off everything an hour later.

As the duo sighed in satisfaction, Yajirobe said, "Hey, sorry for making you guys hunt for this stuff in the jungle."

Mafin smiled and replied, "No, its ok! You just wanted to test our endurance, right?"

Yajirobe said,"Yeah, and I also wanted to see if you were worthy of goin`to the Lookout."

Both Mafin and Begu exclaimed in unison,"Huh?!"

The samurai explained, "You see, the last time aliens showed up, it wasn't pretty. Not only were most of my friends killed, but I heard from Bulma that an entire city was destroyed!"

Mafin exclaimed, "A city was _destroyed_?!"

Begu also exclaimed, "That sounds horrible!"

Yajirobe nodded, "So, when Krillin told me that you guys were gonna start training with 'em a week from today, I was a little hesitant about other aliens comin' to the Lookout."

Mafin asked, "But, why the jungle of all places?"

The samurai replied, "I was feelin' kinda hungry, and I wanted somethin' natural to eat. So, I decided to take you guys out to the jungle, and see if you could actually find some food."

Begu glared at him, "Well I hope that you had a _dandy_ time eating your lunch! Cause we were being chased by two dinosaurs, and I was attacked by two small felines!"

Yajirobe corrected, "...Uh, you mean cubs?"

Begu angrily shouted, "YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!"

The Octorian shivered ,"...And they were far more scarier than the ones we encountered on Enilef 7..."

Mafin asked, "So, um, are we worthy? Of going to the Lookout, I mean."

The samurai thought about it for a moment, then said, "Yeah. You got my approval. I see now that you dudes actually do have hearts, as cheesy as that sounds."

The duo sighed in relief, and gave each other a high-five.

Yajirobe stood up, and asked, "So, you guys ready to go back to Master Roshi's house?"

Both men nodded yes in response.


	8. Heading To The Lookout!

A week had passed, and the day had finally arrived.

The day that would begin the duo's long journey into being "big deals".

It was a sunny morning, and they each had determined looks on their faces.

The duo were outside Kame House, waiting for Yajirobe to arrive, when suddenly, Master Roshi ran out onto the front porch, with a large rectangular box in his hands.

Mafin asked,"Um, Master Roshi, what's going on?"

The Turtle Hermit panted,"Sorry...Forgot...to give you...boys...these!"

He opened the box, and the duo's eyes widened at what they saw.

Inside the box were new training uniforms, complete with the Turtle School kanji.

Begu asked, "Uh, what are these for?"

Roshi smiled and replied,"You boys are now a part of our group, and what better way to reflect that than by having you wear the uniforms of the Turtle School!"

Mafin said to Begu, "Oh, so that's why he is very turtle-centric!"

Begu muttered, "Huh, go figure."

The Turtle Hermit added, "And, believe it or not, Goku and Krillin wore similar uniforms and trained under me when they were little boys!"

The duo's eyes widened at this revelation and they immediately grinned in excitement.

It was surprising enough that Krillin trained under Roshi, but it was equally surprising how Goku, the Saiyan that managed to beat _Frieza_ , once trained with the Turtle Hermit, who is merely a human!

Both Mafin and Begu agreed that this guy was sounding more and more awesome! They couldn't wait to meet him, wherever he was.

Both men exclaimed in unison, "Awesome! Thanks Master Roshi!"

Roshi chuckled and said, "Go ahead and try them on."

They quickly ran inside, and a minute later, they were in their full uniforms, each fitted to their respective sizes.

Begu smiled, "Ah, this feels so good! I liked wearing my armor, but it made my butt itch sometimes..."

Mafin recoiled in disgust and said, "Please don`t talk about your buttocks again, it's really gross..."

The Pesutorian adjusted his wristband and waved his arms around a bit.

"But you are right, it _is_ pretty comfortable.", said Mafin.

He asked Roshi, "I wonder, why did you wait to tell us about this now? Wouldn't it have made more sense just to tell us this during the weekend?"

The Turtle Hermit nervously replied, "Well, uh, I kind of forgot..."

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

Confused, Mafin asked, "Um, why?"

Roshi proudly replied, "I was busy checkin' out my excercise videos!"

Knowing exactly what that meant, Mafin sighed while Begu merely rolled his eyes.

The Turtle then waddled next to the group and said, "Um, gentlemen, Yajirobe has arrived."

He pointed his flipper towards Yajirobe`s hovercar that was now landing on the island.

The pudgy samurai asked,"You guys ready?"

With excited grins on their faces, the duo nodded yes in response.

"We'll see you later, Master.", said Mafin as he bowed in respect.

Begu waved at the old master and added, "Yeah, see ya!"

Master Roshi smiled, "You boys have a safe trip!"

As the vehicle began to take off, the duo waved out at the Turtle Hermit, who simply gave a peace sign.

Yajirobe's hovercar had left the small island once more, and flew across the ocean.

The old master sighed and walked over to the duo's ship, the one they first arrived in.

" _Well, better destroy this thing."_ , he thought to himself.

The Turtle Hermit slowly inhaled, and his entire body grew far more muscular.

He cupped his hands together, held them back, and began to chant, " _ **KA...ME..."**_

* * *

The hovercar flew near a very tall and ancient column and went upwards alongside it.

After a while, the vehicle approached a small tower, and briefly stopped there.

The duo saw Yajirobe talk to a strange, white anthropomorphic feline who welded a massive wooden staff.

The feline handed several small beans to the samurai, who put it in a small bag.

Yajirobe waved goodbye to the cat, who nodded and waved back.

The samurai hopped back in the vehicle, and resumed the trip.

Begu asked, "Uh, Yajirobe? Who was that?"

Yajirobe smiled and replied, "Oh, that's Korin, he's a wise old cat who I usually hang out with. He's pretty cool."

"D-Does he, uh, happen to be related to any saber-toothed cubs?", asked the Octorian in a nervous manner. He was still clearly not over what happened to him a week ago.

Yajirobe simply replied, "No, not really. Seems more related to a house cat to me."

Begu sighed, relieved that he would never have to deal with a repeat of _that_ incident.

Mafin then spoke up, "I wonder, what were those beans for? We saw Korin give you several of those. Do they serve some special purpose?"

The samurai nodded and replied, "They're called Senzu Beans, and when you're injured or exhausted, they restore your health. Plus, you don't get hungry for over 10 days."

The duo's eyes widened in awe. Mafin exclaimed, "That practically sounds amazing, Yajirobe!"

Yajirobe said,"Eh, they're alright. Just don't try eatin' a whole bunch at once, or else you'll expand like a balloon! 'Cause that's what happened to me!"

Both Mafin and Begu shuddered at the thought of expanding like a balloon.

The duo replied in unison,"Y-Yeah, we won't..."

* * *

For the rest of the trip, Mafin and Begu marveled at the sheer length of the column, which seemed to go on for miles.

It looked as if it could go all the way out into space even!

However, that was not the case, as the vehicle finally stopped, and hovered above a large, circular, white tiled platform.

"Alright, here it is. Welcome to the Lookout.", said Yajirobe as he began lowering the hovercar.

Mafin stammered, "I-It's...a-amazing...I've never seen anything like it!"

The duo saw various heroes sparring with one another, such as Krillin and Yamcha, as well as Tien and that small, white creature named Chiaotzu. Piccolo, on the other hand, was meditating in silence.

The hovercar landed on the platform, and as Mafin and Begu got out of the vehicle, Krillin and Yamcha ceased their sparring, as did the other two fighters. Piccolo simply nodded at them, acknowledging their presence.

Mafin respectfully bowed, while Begu casually waved at the heroes.

Krillin cheerfully waved at them and exclaimed, "Hey! How's it going, guys?"

Mafin replied,"Good! I can't wait to start the training!"

Begu added, "Me too!"

Yajirobe then said, "You dudes have fun. I've got nothin' better to do, so I'm gonna go hang out with Korin."

The duo waved goodbye at Yajirobe as the hovercar took off and left.

Krillin asked, "So, which one of us do you guys want to train with first?"

Mafin and Begu nodded at one another, and Mafin replied,"We thought about it long and hard during the weekend, and we'd like to have you as our first trainer."

Krillin's eyes widened and he stammered, "M-Me?! A-Are you sure you want to have me first and not the other guys?"

The duo nodded in confirmation and Mafin explained, "Just so that we can start off strong, and work our way up to even greater heights. And also, we don't feel ready to take on those guys yet."

Begu said, "Yeah, and besides, we're practically weak lil' boys compared to you."

Mafin added,"Well, I wouldn't say we are as weak as _actual_ young boys-"

"Alright, I understand," interrupted Krillin, "But keep in mind that I won't be easy at first, so make sure you're ready for this."

The duo simply nodded in response.

Krillin stretched his arms and said, "Now, I was thinking about starting you guys out with the basics. Do either of you know how to spar?"

Both Mafin and Begu nervously replied in unison, "Uh, not really..."

Mafin explained, "You see, we only learned simple blaster training, but that was just for defense against hostile beings."

Begu added,"Both of us never punched or kicked _anyone_ at all before!"

Krillin's eyes widened in shock, and he thought, " _Oh great, this is gonna take a while..."_

The monk sighed, "Ok, then it looks like I'll have to teach you that first. We'll start off with a basic strike first. You ready?"

With determined expressions, the duo nodded yes in unison.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

The destroyed remains of Planet Namek floated aimlessly in the middle of space.

Not a sound was heard, except for the wheezing breaths of a certain Emperor of the Universe, who was floating among the debris.

He was in a horrible state, as not only was he completely battered and bruised from his fight with Goku, but the entire lower half of his body was gone, and nearly half of his face was completely burnt off.

"I, Frieza...Emperor of the Universe...was humiliated by that Saiyan ape...", he muttered before blacking out.

Frieza continued to drift out into the endless void of space, before he was saved by a very large mothership similar to his own.

A large being that resembled Frieza's second form silently stood in the hallway of the ship.

The being sighed in relief as he saw the Emperor being taken to the medical bay by several members of his ship.

He said, "My son, you are safe."


	9. Training with Krillin!

As the other heroes resumed their training, Krillin led Mafin and Begu over to the middle of the Lookout.

"Alright, I want you guys to punch my hand. Either of you can come up, it doesn't matter which one.", said Krillin, who held out his hand.

Mafin turned to Begu and asked, "Um, do you want to go up first?"

Begu replied,"Nah, you go first."

Mafin shook his head,"No no, it's ok. You go first."

"Nope, I'm good. You go up first, dude."

"No, it's alright. You can go ahead, I insist."

Krillin sighed and shook his head in disbelief.

"They really can't decide, huh...", thought Krillin.

Begu thought about it for a minute, then asked,"Wanna do 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'?"

Mafin shrugged, "Yeah, sure."

Krillin's jaw dropped in response. " _Are they serious?!_ ", he thought.

The duo crouched down and stared intently at one another.

They began shaking their fists at the same time, and shouted in unison,"3-2-1...GO!"

Mafin's hand formed a closed fist, symbolizing the rock symbol, while Begu's formed an outstretched hand, symbolizing paper.

Begu shrugged,"Eh, oh well. Go ahead, dude."

Mafin nodded and walked up to Krillin. He then took a deep breath, and proceeded to gently punch Krillin's hand.

Krillin said,"That one was good, but a little too soft. Try again."

Mafin did so again, with more force.

"A little bit better, but try again, and this time, _really_ mean it."

Mafin grunted and punched Krillin's hand as hard as he could.

Krillin smiled and said, "There you go! Much better."

Mafin smiled and bowed in respect. Begu then walked up to the bald monk.

Begu thought, "Alright, let's do this thing!"

Just like Mafin, Begu proceeded to do the same punch exercise three times, and each punch became progressively better than the last.

Krillin said, "Nice job guys! Ok, now I want you guys to do...three sets of ten push-ups!"

"Only ten? Pfft, too easy!", said Begu, who had a cocky grin on his face.

Krillin smirked, "Alright, three sets of _twenty_ push-ups then!"

Begu exclaimed, "Wait, what?!"

Mafin glared at Begu and said, "Nice going, Begu."

The Octorian groaned in disbelief, and the duo got into their positions.

* * *

 _ **Several Hours Later...**_

* * *

"Again.", said Krillin.

Mafin and Begu jabbed and kicked the air once more, panting in exhaustion.

It was now the late evening, and the duo had gone through several physical maneuvers. They had learned to strike, kick, and spar with one another multiple times.

Yamcha yawned and said,"Alright, I don't know about you guys, but it's gettin' pretty late. I better head back home before Puar gets worried."

Krillin nodded,"Yeah, you're right."

He saw the duo continue to jab and kick at the air.

"Ok, that's enough training for today."

As if on cue, Mafin and Begu then immediately collapsed in response. They panted heavily, as their bodies felt incredibly sore.

Krillin walked over to them and asked, "Are you guys ok?"

Mafin quietly replied, "We're fine, we just really need some rest..."

The monk nodded, then looked at Begu.

Begu groaned, "No more manuevers...no more..."

Krillin chuckled,"Well, there's gonna be more where that came from!"

The duo's eyes widened at the bald warrior's response.

Krillin said,"Remember, this was just the first day. It will only get trickier from here."

Mafin sighed in exhaustion, while Begu groaned louder.

The bald warrior offered a hand to Mafin, who gladly accepted it, and the Pesutorian was quickly pulled up to his feet.

Krillin offered a hand to Begu as well, who declined and managed to get up himself.

Yamcha stretched his arms and said,"Okay, I'm headin' out!"

Tien said, "I'll head out as well. Chiaotzu, let's go."

The white child-like creature said, "Ok."

Krillin nodded, and turned to the duo, "Alright, I'll see you guys at the house!"

The monk then flew off the Lookout.

Mafin groggily nodded while Begu half-heartedly nodded, rubbing his eyes in the process.

They both were incredibly exhausted, and they didn't hear what he actually said.

"Well everyone, we'll see you tomorrow. I hope you guys have safe travels.", said Mafin in a quiet manner.

He then bowed towards the four heroes, while Begu merely waved goodbye.

The other heroes bowed in unison, and collectively flew off into the distance.

Piccolo was still meditating, so the duo merely waved goodbye to him and flew off.

They flew all the way down to Korin Tower, where they greeted Yajirobe and Korin.

The samurai nodded at them, then took out a capsule and pressed it. He threw the capsule, and out popped his hover car.

The duo groggily got in and Yajirobe waved at Korin, who nodded and walked back into the Tower.

* * *

The group finally arrived at Kame House. Mafin and Begu waved goodbye to Yajirobe, who merely gave out a peace sign and took off in his hover car once more.

The duo saw that the battered spaceship they landed in was gone.

However, they merely shrugged it off, and assumed that Roshi took care of it.

The duo walked towards the door, and Mafin quietly knocked on it.

The door opened to reveal Krillin in his PJ's, who merely yawned and said, "Hey guys."

Mafin and Begu's eyes widened, and Mafin asked,"Uh, Krillin...what are you doing here?"

Krillin replied,"Mafin, I live here."

The boys' eyes widened and they exclaimed,"YOU LIVE HERE?!"

Krillin chuckled at the duo's reaction, and said,"Yep! I've always lived at Kame House."

Begu frantically asked,"Where were you all this time? We never see you here!"

The bald warrior smiled,"Well, from May, up until last week, I stayed over at Capsule Corp. and volunteered to help the Namekians out with adjusting to Earth. It was a tricky process, but over time, they managed to get used to it. After they left, I spent the rest of the week training at the Lookout."

Begu stammered,"T-Then...why didn't we-"

Krillin explained, "I usually get up early to go to the Lookout, and I train there for several hours, along with the others, just like how today's session went."

The duo quietly nodded in unison.

"By the time I come back here, you two are already asleep. And I usually sleep upstairs in Master Roshi's room, that's why you never see me."

Mafin turned to Begu and asked,"Why didn't we think of going upstairs?"

Begu shuddered,"I-I...honestly didn't want to. I didn't want to see something that would scar me for life."

Mafin's face paled as he thought," _Oooh, right. Roshi."_

Krillin yawned,"Well, good night guys. I'll see you in the morning."

The duo said in unison,"Good night!"

The monk went upstairs, and Mafin and Begu each collapsed on their beds, quickly falling asleep in the process.


	10. Second Day At The Lookout!

_**The**_ _**Next**_ _**Day**_...

Throughout the second trip to the Lookout, Krillin told the duo about the various battles he was involved with, both on Earth and on Namek.

Begu grinned, "Y'know, it's kinda awesome to know that, even after all you dudes went through, everything managed to turn out great, all thanks to that Goku guy!"

The monk softly chuckled, "Yeah."

" _I just hope you're alright out there, buddy...",_ thought Krillin _._

The three heroes finally arrived at the Lookout.

Yamcha saw them landing on the platform, and he, Tien, and Chiaotzu all waved at the trio. Like before, Piccolo merely nodded, acknowledging their presence.

Mafin bowed in respect, Begu gave out a small wave, and Krillin happily waved back at them.

The former desert bandit smirked,"Yajirobe didn't want to make it today, huh?"

Krillin chuckled and said,"No, I decided to bring these guys over myself. I wanted to chat with them for a bit."

Yamcha nodded and turned to Mafin and Begu. He asked, "So, how are you dudes doing?"

Mafin replied,"We're alright. We just had a very lengthy discussion about the events on Namek."

The wild haired warrior sighed,"Yeah...Namek was pretty crazy."

He then stretched his arms out and said,"Alright, I'm gonna go train with the others. See you guys later!"

The three heroes all waved at Yamcha as he walked back to the other heroes.

Krillin motioned the duo to walk with him to the center of the Lookout.

"First," began Krillin, "we're gonna practice summoning ki!"

Begu pumped his fist in the air and exclaimed, "Aw yeah!"

Mafin agreed,"This will be exciting!"

The bald warrior quietly sat down.

Krillin smiled and said, "Now then, let's start."

The duo nodded and sat on the floor.

The monk explained,"First, clear your minds of any thoughts. Do it now."

Both Mafin and Begu closed their eyes and took deep, calming breaths.

"Good, good. When you guys are ready, start drawing out your energy from inside."

"What the heck does that mean? Are we pulling energy out from our stomachs?", asked Begu while keeping his eyes closed.

"Focus, Begu. Don't interrupt the process.", sternly said Krillin.

The Octorian grumbled and resumed his position.

Krillin added,"By that point, hold out your hands and cup them together."

The duo nodded and continued their breathing patterns for several more minutes, until finally, they began feeling something.

It was a warm and calming sensation...and it felt like it was ready to be released.

They held out their hands, just as Krillin instructed, and concentrated in releasing this energy.

After a while, the duo heard a strange sound.

They opened their eyes, and both men saw small spheres of ki emit from their hands.

Mafin gasped in shock and stammered,"Th-This...i-is...amazing!"

Begu laughed and exclaimed,"This is awesome!"

Krillin grinned at the duo's utter amazement at their accomplishment. He asked,"Feels good, right?"

Mafin happily replied,"Yeah!"

Begu chuckled,"It sure does, man!"

The ki spheres quickly faded as the duo collectively sighed in relief.

Krillin nodded and said,"Alright. Next step is sensing out others' ki."

Begu pouted, "Aw what?! So we're not shooting out laser blasts?!"

The monk sighed,"You need to start from the basics and work your way up. Otherwise, you wouldn't know how to detect where your enemies are, charge up your ki when neccessary, or utilize an attack like the Kamehameha!"

"The...wha?", muttered a confused Begu.

Krillin replied,"Look, what I'm trying to say is, you gotta be patient. Those lessons will come in time."

Mafin nodded,"He is right, Begu." The Octorian groaned and said,"Fine."

The boys exhaled and closed their eyes once again.

Krillin explained, "Clear your minds once more. Try to see with your body."

Begu went wide-eyed and said,"Huh?"

Mafin asked,"What does that mean?"

The monk nervously explained,"W-Well, um...it's tricky to put into words. Basically, you're essentially sensing the energies of the people around you when you let your body...take over. If that makes any sense."

Begu cocked his head to the side in confusion, while Mafin calmly nodded in response.

"I get what you're saying...", said the Pesutorian.

Begu turned to Mafin and exclaimed,"Wait, what?! You could understand all that?!"

Mafin nodded,"We just have to focus really hard, and we'll be able to sense out others' ki."

The Octorian shook his head and sighed, "Alright then..."

Krillin said,"Calm your mind and concentrate, just like before."

The duo then returned to their breathing technique.

Mafin thought to himself, " _Quiet thoughts..._ " Begu thought, " _Here we go again!"_

It took a half an hour for our two heroes to sense anything (much to their annoyance), until finally, they began feeling something.

It wasn't a warm sensation like last time, but rather, it felt like multiple different energies being very active at once, each one with a different vibe.

Begu exclaimed,"Whoa! This is...incredible!"

He turned to his best friend and asked,"Are you feelin' these energies too, dude?"

Mafin replied,"Yeah! It's like I'm sensing multiple power levels at once!"

Krillin said,"That's because you are. You're sensing the energies of everyone on the Lookout."

The boys collectively exclaimed,"Whoa..."

The monk explained, "This power will help sense out who's battling who from a distance, and makes things far more easier to comprehend than scounters or power levels. Don't worry, you'll get used to it over time."

Begu snickered and thought, " _It's a good thing I got rid of our scounters then..."_

Mafin excitedly asked, "So, what's next, Krillin?"

Krillin grinned and replied,"We're moving on to charging up your ki! You guys ready?"

With a glint of determination in his eyes, Mafin exclaimed, "Yes, sir!"

Begu smirked and said, "Oh yeah, man!"

* * *

 **Several hours later...**

* * *

"HAAAAAAAH!", screamed the duo.

It was now the late evening, and they still hadn't made any progress with charging up their ki.

Krillin exclaimed,"Don't give up! One more time, guys!"

Begu groaned,"It...freakin'...hurts..."

Mafin nodded, "I don't think I'm ready for one more..."

The bald warrior shook his head,"Come on, you two! Try again! I know you can do it!"

The boys let out a collective groan and resumed their focus.

They stayed in that position for a half an hour.

Both men were pushing so hard to charge up that their faces started turning blue, prompting Krillin to say,"That's enough! Don't hurt yourselves!"

The duo gasped for air, and collapsed to the tiled floor, panting heavily. The monk walked over, and pulled the boys up to their feet.

"Are you guys ok?", asked a concerned Krillin.

"Do...we... _LOOK_...ok...to you?!", hissed Begu.

Krillin nervously replied,"S-Sorry! I was just asking!"

He sighed and said,"Let's try again tomorrow."

The monk turned to the other heroes and said,"Guys, Mafin and Begu are about to head out!"

Mafin quietly bowed,"Well, I hope you have a good night, gentlemen."

"Thanks man!," said Yamcha, who gave him a thumbs up.

Chioatzu happily waved at Mafin, while Tien bowed and said,"Thank you."

Piccolo quietly nodded and returned to his meditation.

Begu yawned and asked,"Ready to head out, bro?"

Mafin smiled and said,"Yep!"

The boys, along with Krillin, proceeded to fly off the Lookout.

The trio arrived at Kame House, and they walked inside.


	11. Arachnid Attack!

Throughout the rest of the month, Mafin and Begu had continued to hone and practice their combat techniques on the Lookout. With the help of Krillin, the duo learned how to perform various dodges, blocks, and strikes. The duo also succeeded in charging up their ki, and learned how to release simple ki blasts as well. They even engaged in several incredible sparring sessions with their master.

The duo knew that these sessions were definitely gonna be a _big_ help in the future, and they had a certain bald warrior to thank for it.

While on their resting breaks, Mafin and Begu also got to know the other warriors and their past histories, how they all met one another (thanks to a certain monkey-tailed boy), and even the big battles they fought in!

Unfortunately, on the weekends, Master Roshi had them repair the hole in the roof that they forgot to fix up. It was a very tricky process, considering that the duo weren't exactly the repairmen type, but they managed to get through it with a healthy amount of teamwork, and some very helpful home repair books that they borrowed from a library somewhere out in South City.

On Thursday night, the boys were about to fall onto their respective beds after a long day of training, when Krillin walked in the room.

He said,"Hey guys, I just got off the phone with Bulma, and she inviting us to a picnic tomorrow."

Begu grinned, "Awesome! Where is it?"

The monk explained, "She said it's in the woods over at Mount Paozu, and she even invited Gohan and Oolong over! She's also bringing a bunch of food and drinks with her too!"

Begu scratched his head in confusion,"Who is Oolong again? We kinda forgot who he was..."

Krillin replied,"He's an old friend of ours."

Mafin spoke up,"I wonder, why is it in the woods? Wouldn't it be safer to have it at Capaule Corp.?"

"Well, she wanted to have it there for 'nostalgia's sake', which is kinda sweet of her!", said Krillin, who smiled softly.

"For...nostalgia's sake? What does that mean?", asked Mafin.

Krillin explained, "See, Bulma actually first met Goku while at Mount Paozu. She told him about the Dragon Balls, and he saved her from a random dinosaur."

Mafin and Begu collectively said, "Woah..."

Begu asked, "Wait, how do you know about the parts you weren't there for?"

Krillin replied, "Bulma told me about it one time."

"Huh. Well, okay."

"Now, because of the picnic, it means tomorrow's training session is canceled.", the monk added.

Both Mafin and Begu quietly nodded in response.

Mafin then asked,"Wait a minute, what about Master Roshi?"

"Don't worry, I let him know about the trip. And he's coming along too."

"YOU DARN BETCHA I AM! I'M BRINGING MY DIRTY MAGAZINES! HA HA HA!",yelled out the Turtle Hermit from upstairs.

Krillin continued,"Alright, I'll let Bulma know that we're all going. So get some rest."

Begu merely nodded while Mafin bowed,"Good night, Krillin."

"Good night guys.", said the monk, and he bowed as well.

Both men immediatly collapsed on their beds, and fell asleep.

Krillin smiled warmly, then turned off the lights, and walked upstairs.

* * *

 **The Next Day...**

* * *

Early in the morning, the Kame House group quickly got ready for the picnic.

Krillin decided to dress casually for the event. He was wearing a Capsule Corp. shirt and a pair of brown slacks along with black sneakers, while the duo wore their Turtle School uniforms, just in case something attacked their group. Master Roshi wore his signature shirt with beige shorts and sandals.

The three heroes (along with Roshi on Baby Gamera) flew over to Mount Paozu, and saw Bulma, Gohan, and Oolong in the distance. They were all cheerfully waving at the trio.

Bulma was wearing a light green tank top, along with jeans and a pair of red sneakers, and her hairstyle now resembled the one she had while visiting Namek.

Gohan wore a light blue suit and a pair of black dress shoes.

Oolong simply wore a white T-shirt, along with a pair of blue shorts and sandals.

The four of them landed next to the group, and Baby Gamera quickly took off.

"Hey-o!", called out Bulma, "How are you guys doing?"

Krillin grinned,"We're doing good! Thanks for asking!"

The scientist thought to herself, " _Now I just gotta continue finding a good spot for us to sit at..."_

She walked away and resumed her search.

Mafin saw Oolong and spoke up,"Hey, you're that Oolong guy, right?"

The pig smirked,"The one and only! Are you that Mafin and Begu duo that Bulma told me about?"

The Pesutorian quietly nodded in response.

Oolong smiled,"It's a pleasure to meet you both!"

Bulma walked back over to the group of heroes with a grin on her face and said, "Guys, I found the perfect spot!"

The scientist pointed over to a nearby grassy field. The group walked over and began to set up the picnic.

Bulma spread out the blanket, which was (of course) Capsule Corp. themed. She opened the picnic basket, and pulled out several capsules. She gave each of them to Master Roshi, who nodded and clicked on each of them. Various foods instantly appeared in a flash, like chicken dumplings, tunafish sandwiches, a bowl of potato salad, and a bowl of chopped up fruit.

The Capsule Corp. scientist threw another capsule at the ground nearby, and a white circular table instantly appeared.

She asked,"Oolong, did you bring the drinks?"

Oolong replied,"Yep!", and took out two bottles of soda from a random plastic bag that he brought with him.

The shape-shifting pig proceeded to bring the drinks over to the table.

Krillin scratched his head and asked,"Uh, why'd you have Oolong-"

"I don't wanna use up anymore capsules!," interrupted Bulma,"Those things don't come from trees ya know!"

The monk nervously gulped and said,"O-Okay..."

Master Roshi cleared his throat and said,"If anyone needs me, I'll be checkin' out some of my magazines near that tree over there!"

He pointed towards a nearby oak tree, and ran to it in an excited manner, complete with various dirty magazines in hand.

Begu chuckled, prompting Oolong to ask,"What are you laughin' about?"

The Octorian replied,"I'm actually starting to like the old man. He's got some good tastes, if ya know what I mean."

Oolong let out a perverted chuckle and said, "Y-Yeah, I know..."

* * *

The group sat down and began to dig in. While eating, they talked about various things, such as news in their current lives, or reminiscing on random stories from the past.

It wasn't long before they began discussing the duo's training sesions, from their first day all the way up to the present.

"That's awesome!", exclaimed Bulma as she finished eating a dumpling, "So, you guys are at Krillin's level now?!"

Mafin chuckled, "Well, we're almost there. Just have to keep training hard!"

Krillin nodded,"Yep! And seeing how the end of the month is next week, I'll be giving you guys a big test, using a...different kind of training. Just to see if you can adapt."

As he gave a knowing chuckle, the duo's eyes widened in shock.

" _Wh-What kind of training is he talking about?!_ ", they both thought.

It was at that moment that the group heard a rustling sound, which could be heard near the bushes.

"Uh, d-did you guys hear that?", asked Oolong in a nervous tone of voice.

Krillin nodded,"Yeah. I sense multiple energies coming from those bushes."

Bulma chuckled,"Guys. relax. It's probably just some foxes scurrying around."

The mysterious rustling sound occurred once more, and this time it had a noticeable increase in volume.

Suddenly, several giant spiders the size of horses scurried out of the bushes, and circled around the group in a threatening manner.

Both Bulma and Oolong screamed in fear and held onto one another, while the other four heroes got into defensive positions.

Begu yelled,"JUST WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE THINGS?!"

Gohan replied,"They're called spiders! There's many different kinds, but they're normally never this big!"

Oolong exclaimed,"You know what felines are, but you don't know what a spider is?!"

Begu angrily replied,"Shut up! Not every creature here has a space-themed counterpart ya know!"

One spider hissed out at the Octorian, causing him to stumble back in surprise.

Krillin shouted,"Hey!" He gave two swift kicks to the spider's head, which had no effect on it. The large arachnid turned around and shot out a large glob of webbing at the bald warrior, to which he quickly dodged. It accidentally ended up hitting Bulma and Oolong instead, which caused the two of them to be encased in a massive web cocoon. Two other spiders hauled the pair on their massive abdomens.

"Ah, come on!", she angrily yelled, "Why do I have to be the damsel in distress **again**?!"

Oolong merely rolled his eyes at her comment. He thought, " _Seriously? That's what you're freakin' out about?"_

Another large spider fired its own web glob at a sleeping Master Roshi, causing him to be trapped in a similar sized cocoon. It hauled the old martial artist on its abdomen, and joined the other two spiders as they crawled away from the picnic site.

"GUYS! NOOO!" ,yelled Gohan as he reached out in despair.

"Gohan...look!", said Krillin in a shocked tone of voice.

Gohan turned around and saw that Mafin and Begu were surrounded by two bear sized spiders. Both of them had severe scars on their respective legs and abdomen.

"Ooo, boy...", muttered Begu, "Here we go."

"We better take this away from the picnic site.",stated Mafin.

Begu quietly agreed and the duo flew over to a distant clearing in the forest. The two spiders hissed and followed them.

"Don't worry guys! We're coming!", exclaimed Krillin as he and Gohan began running over to the duo, but both were quickly stopped by an even larger blue colored spider that was 50 ft tall. It angrily screeched out at them.

As sweat fell from his brow, Krillin asked,"Hey, uh, do giant spiders normally roam around the forest?"

The young Saiyan hybrid replied,"N-No! I've never seen them before! And neither has Dad _or_ Mom!"

Krillin sighed,"Oh great..."

" _Normally I don't hurt forest creatures, but today I'll have to make an exception..._ ", thought the young Saiyan hybrid.

The spider instantly spit out a massive amount of venom at the two heroes. The pair dodged the attack, and flew around the spider in the air. They fired out two massive ki blasts at the creature, causing it to recoil in pain.

Using one of its front legs, the beast then struck the two heroes, instantly swatting them down like flies. Afterwards, it jumped upwards and slammed its giant body onto the heroes.

The spider stopped what it was doing and saw Mafin and Begu fighting two of its smaller kin in the distance. It screeched at the duo and ran after them, leaving a massive impact crater. Upon finishing their skirmish, the duo noticed the creature and got into defensive stances.

Krillin groaned in pain, and looked at Gohan, who coughed up some blood. The monk crawled over to the boy, and asked,"Hey, buddy. Are you alright?" Gohan groaned and replied, "Y-Yeah. My body hurts though..."

Krillin's eyes widened and he exclaimed,"Then I gotta get you a Senzu Bean!"

Three deer-sized spiders circled around the two heroes, and growled. Krillin slowly got up, dusted himself off, and glared at the two creatures.

"Just rest here, Gohan. I'll handle these two.",said Krillin, who gave Gohan a thumbs up.

Gohan nodded, and quietly said,"Ok..."

He turned to the three spiders and got into his own defensive stance.

Krillin angrily shouted,"COME ON!"

As his aura swirled around him, the spiders hissed and scurried towards the bald warrior.

Krillin quickly dashed towards the spiders and kicked both of them in the eyes, making the creatures stumble back a bit. He bashed their heads together, causing their fangs to fall out. The monk let out a powerful kiai, causing them to be blown away. They shook their heads and ran off.

"Krillin! Gohan!", shouted out Mafin, who landed right next to the two heroes.

He nervously asked,"Wh-What happened to you? Are you guys ok? Are you hurt?"

The monk smiled and said,"No, I'm fine. I just took out two small spiders. Gohan's in bad shape though."

The Pesutorian exclaimed,"Oh no!"

"So, do you have any Senzu Beans that we could borrow?"

Mafin checked to see if he had any stashed away in his belt, and replied,"Just two of them, and they were originally meant for me and Begu. But, seeing how Gohan is currently injured, I'll let you have my bean."

Krillin happily said,"Thank you!"

The Pesutorian gave the small bean to the monk, who quickly put it in Gohan's mouth.

The young boy felt his energy return to its full health. He instantly hopped up to his feet. "Thanks Mafin!", said Gohan.

Mafin sighed in relief, "Now, I'm currently trying to help Begu fight this really giant spider, and-"

"That's the spider that attacked me and Krillin!", exclaimed Gohan.

The bald warrior nodded,"That guy's pretty tough."

Mafin's eyes widened and he thought," _Oh wow! They took him on already?!"_

He asked, "So, um, do you want to help out?"

The pair of heroes nodded yes, and Mafin said,"Then follow me!"

The trio blasted over to where the Octorian was.

* * *

"TAKE SOME OF THIS, YA CREEPY-LOOKIN' BEAST!", shouted Begu as he released several yellow ki blasts at the large arachnid.

The creature recoiled in pain from the blasts, and in an fit of rage, unleashed several wads of venom onto the Octorian.

He swiftly dodged most of the attacks, with the exception for one, which hit him in the eyes.

Begu let out a high-pitched squeal and fell to the ground.

"My eyes! My eyes! Why'd he have to shoot at my eyes?!", the Octorian yelled.

The spider opened its maw a bit more, revealing thousands upon thousands of teeth.

Even though Begu couldn't see at the moment, he could hear the ear-piercing sounds of the creature, as well as feel its saliva dripping onto him.

" _I really hoped that I wouldn't have to go out like this..._ ", thought Begu as he shielded himself with his arms.

The spider was about to go in for the kill, but stopped upon hearing Gohan and Krillin screaming in the distance.

Krillin flew up to the giant creature and shouted," **SOLAR FLARE!** "

A blinding flash of light occurred and everyone (with the exception of Begu, who's eyes were already shut) covered their eyes. The spider let out an even louder screech of pain.

"NOW, GOHAN!", yelled the monk as the blinding effect quickly wore off on the arachnid.

" **MASENKO...** ", screamed the young warrior as he flew towards the creature, charging up a powerful attack.

The large spider screeched and spat out a large wad of venom at the boy, who immediately dodged it.

Mafin quickly grabbed Begu's hand and ran out of the way.

" _I'm sorry to do this to you, big guy..._ ",thought Gohan.

" **HAAAAAH!** "

Gohan immediately fired out a large golden colored ki beam at the creature. The attack went straight through the spider's head and abdomen, causing it to collapse on the ground.

The boy landed near Mafin, who said,"That was an amazing move you did! Thanks a lot, Gohan!"

Gohan smiled bashfully.

Begu slowly opened his eyes and thought," _I-I can see! Oh, thank the stars, I can see again!"_

He looked around and saw the spider's corpse, which was several feet away from the group.

The Octorian sighed, "Alright, well he's dead. So what about the others?"

Mafin replied,"Hmm, the last time I saw them, they were being dragged off by the spiders. But, right now I have no idea where they are..."

Krillin added,"Me neither...I can't even sense out their energies!"

Begu groaned,"Great."

Gohan's eyes widened and he exclaimed,"Oh! Maybe they're at the nearby cave!"

"What cave?", asked the duo and Krillin in unison.

"Well, I remember when I was 4, there was this big cave that I walked by when I used to look for birds, but I was always too afraid to go in!", replied Gohan.

Mafin said, "Maybe the others could be in there!"

"Let's go get them!", exclaimed Begu.

"Right!", exclaimed Gohan and Krillin in unison.

* * *

Gohan led the trio over to the cave, which was rather massive in size. The small group of heroes ran in, dodging many stalagmites that were protruding from the floor.

The group ran as far as they could go, before finally stopping near a small puddle of water.

Begu dropped to one knee and panted,"So...do...you...guys...sense anything... _now_?!"

Krillin closed his eyes and tried to sense out where the others could be.

Begu looked up and saw several tiny spiders crawl around on the cave's ceiling, and he muttered,"Yeesh..."

"Aha! There they are!", thought the monk.

"Guys, they're in that direction!", said Krillin as he pointed to a nearby tunnel.

He ran into the tunnel and the group followed his lead. They all formed small ki balls in their hands, which allowed them to see better. After a while, they noticed a small light in the distance. As the group got closer, the light grew bigger and bigger.

They finally arrived inside a large, crystal-lit interior, where upon arrival, they saw hundreds of spiders crawling all around the area. There were spiders of various kinds, and of various sizes.

Sweat droplets fell from Begu's forehead as he whimpered,"O-Ok...n-now I'm outright terrified..."

"HEY, GUYS!",yelled out Bulma.

The group tried to locate where the sound of her voice was coming from, but she was seemingly nowhere to be seen.

"UGH! UP _HERE_!"

They looked up and they saw that the Capaule Corp. scientist (along with Oolong) was held up on a cavern wall, near a massive spider web.

"Get me out of this stupid thing!", she angrily growled as she thrashed around in the massive cocoon, making Oolong yell with fright, albeit muffled due to the webbing.

Krillin flew up to them and said,"Don't worry guys, I'll get you down."

He was about to fire a small Destructo Disk, when all of a sudden, a loud whistle was heard.

This silenced **every** spider in the area, and they all quickly gathered together in a single line.

Nervous about this strange turn of events, Krillin quickly lowered himself to the ground, much to Bulma and Oolong's dismay.

"Ooo, excellent. I see you all brought some lunch for yourselves here.", said a unknown female voice.

The mysterious new character quietly walked in.

She wore a sexy black corset along with light gray see-through sleeves, as well as a small, green diamond necklace.

The woman appeared to resemble a human, yet for some reason, she had turquoise skin, emerald colored eyes, voluminous forest green hair (the hair shape itself was astonishingly similar to a certain animated mermaid from that one movie), and three fingers on each hand instead of the normal five. Also, instead of human legs, the woman had a dark gray spider abdomen, complete with pitch black spider legs.

She asked with a playful smirk, "Now who should my spiders dine on first?"

Bulma gagged in disgust and said,"They're not eating me! That's for sure!"

Oolong rapidly shook his head no.

As sweat dripped from his forehead, Begu nervously spoke up,"W-Wait...b-before you, um...eat us and all...who are you?"

The mysterious woman evil grinned. She exclaimed,"Who am I? Who am I?! I am the most nightmarish thing you will EVER encounter! The face of horror itself! The one who rules over all of my spiders with a fist! I...AM... **QUEEN KUMO!** "

She let out an insanely evil laugh that sent chills down the group's spines.

"Uh...didn't you say your name was Shannon?", said a nearby green skinned spider.

This sudden reveal caused the spider queen to blush in embarrassment.

"Lee, I thought that we weren't gonna say that name!", whispered the spider queen.

Both Krillin and Mafin face faulted on the floor, while Gohan merely stood there in shock.

Bulma was clearly trying to hold back a few giggles, while Oolong's eyes merely widened in surprise.

Begu's mouth hung agape at the mention of the queen's real name, and he instantly burst out laughing.

"Your real name is SHANNON?! You gotta be kidding me! What kind of name is Shannon?!"

"Yes...that's my actual name...", said the spider queen, who was rather irritated by this guy.

As the Octorian continued to laugh his butt off, Queen Shannon only became more and more furious.

Finally, after a minute of non-stop laughter, she shouted,"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! _**SHUT UUUUUP!** "_

This caused Begu to quickly silence himself.

" _Yeesh, and I thought Vegeta was quick-tempered..._ ", thought Bulma.

Queen Shannon took a deep, calming breath and told her spiders,"Now then...you all can have lunch for a bit, and then we'll discuss our plans for world domination afterwards."

Mafin stood back up,"Wait, world domination?! Why would you want to do that?!"

Shannon instantly perked up like a small child and turned to face the Pesutorian,"Well, I have huge reasons of course! Want me to talk about it?"

"Yes. Yes, I do.", replied the Pesutorian as he gave a sly wink to Krillin, who nodded and was about to charge another Destructo Disk, when out of nowhere, he and Gohan were trapped in web cocoons. They saw two other spiders standing right next to them, and they were both chuckling evily. The pair assumed they had fired out web globs at them when they weren't looking, which was both scary and impressive, to say the least.

"No, no, no!", taunted Queen Shannon,"No escaping while I give out some very important exposition!"

Both heroes tried to charge up, but their cocoons wouldn't budge, much to their shock.

" _What the heck is this webbing made out of?!"_ , thought Krillin.

Shannon then wrapped her arms around both Mafin and Begu's shoulders, which made them incredibly nervous.

"Grab a seat, you two! Let me fill you in on my story so far!", said the Queen in a cheerful manner.

Two wolf-sized yellow colored spiders crawled next to both men, and stood still.

The duo gulped and sat down on their respective spider's abdomen.

"First," began Shannon, "I have always held a hatred towards anyone who looks down upon spiders, especially humans. Always wanting to squish them! Always finding them to be hideous, disgusting, or scary! When in reality, spiders are nothing like that! They're smart, adorable, useful, and often misunderstood creatures!"

She affectionately rubbed the head of the spider named Lee, who smiled bashfully.

"You find Four-Eyes here...adorable?!", scoffed Begu, who pointed at the arachnid below him.

"Is that a problem?", growled Shannon, which made the Octorian quickly shake his head no.

She sighed deeply and brushed her hair bang aside.

The queen snapped her fingers, and a small, furry spider crawled up next to her, carrying a folded up piece of paper.

She grabbed it and opened up the paper.

"So, I came up with a plan that would ensure that spiders are the dominant species...", smirked Shannon.

The spider queen showed the duo her plans, which were written rather poorly.

They could at least make out the phrases " **TAKE OVER** ", and " **Spiders should be on top** ".

However, one image made the duo's eyes widen with fear and shock.

It was a drawing of the Earth's Dragon Balls.


	12. Exposition Time!

"Th-The...Dragon Balls?! You're gonna use them?!", the duo exclaimed in unison.

Queen Shannon's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh, so you _**do**_ know about these orbs!"

Mafin looked up at the queen and asked, "How do _you_ know about them?"

Queen Shannon replied, "You see, four months ago, while I was searching for food in the jungle, I came across this short, evil blue guy and his two minions. They told me they were looking for seven magical orbs known as the Dragon Balls. Once I learned that they granted wishes, I ran back over to the cave—not this one—and began thinking about my plan! Of course, not before sending my spiders to chase those idiots off..."

She smirked, "Now, to actually explain my evil plan! First-"

Begu spoke up,"Ok, sorry if this is sounding off-topic, but how can Lee even talk? None of the other spiders said anything when they attacked us!"

The queen thought, " _Oh, we're asking questions now? Alright."_

Lee replied, "Well, a few years back, a young witch casted a spell on me for some kind of experiment. I don't remember what it was though. Anyways, I guess she never told her parents, 'cause they tossed me out of her cottage the next day. After a while, I ran into Queen Shannon, and she let me join in!"

Shannon angrily thought," _So, we're just dropping the Queen Kumo name entirely, huh? Okay, then..."_

She cleared her throat and resumed, "Now that that's out of the way, I-"

Krillin added, "But, what about the big spiders that attacked us?"

" _More questions... **great**."_

Shannon turned to him and replied,"Oh, them? They were just hungry for food. Those spiders are from the same jungle, so they act more like animals, whereas Lee's been more of a faithful assistant to me."

"I sure am!", Lee said jubilantly.

Shannon grinned evily and rubbed her hands together, "Now, to _really_ explain my-"

"So, all of those guys were from...a jungle?", asked Gohan.

The queen pinched her nose _,_ let out a sigh of frustration, then turned to face the young boy.

"Precisely...", said the spider queen,"I've trained them to fight and web up _anybody_ that could potentially stand in our way. Or just simply to grab a quick lunch, like right now, for instance."

Lee excitedly asked, "Ooo, what about _your_ training sessions, my queen?"

The queen nodded, "I also trained myself in combat, not only because I LOVE me some violence, but just in case the moment arises in which I need to fight back myself."

She procceded to perform a few light jabs at the air, making Lee gaze in awe.

Mafin asked,"What about that really large guy that attacked Begu? And Krillin? And Gohan?

Shannon groaned and walked over to a cavern wall. "More...stupid...questions...", she muttered as she hit her head on the wall repeatedly.

Lee's eyes widened,"You mean Big Boy Barty? Well, he's an unpredictable wild card. And he nearly almost made our queen go insane! It was pure HELL trying to reason with him! He was so _angry_ all the time!"

Shannon quietly nodded in affirmation as she walked back over.

Lee then looked around, trying to see where the large arachnid was,"Huh, that's weird. He usually squeezes himself inside _minutes_ after our queen whistles."

Krillin and Gohan nervously darted their eyes around the room, while Mafin and Begu fake whistled and put their hands behind their backs.

Shannon immediately put two and two together, and gasped, " _YOU_ guys killed him?!"

The four heroes fearfully nodded in response.

The spider queen stammered,"H-How?! How did you manage to kill...that guy?!

Mafin instantly fired out a ki projectile at a crystal nearby, destroying it.

This made Lee whisper to Shannon, "Ooh, that explains it."

Begu decided to change the subject, and asked, "So, uh, why'd you leave the jungle?"

"Well, last month, Lee here inadvertantly destroyed our previous lair when he tried to web up a flippin' _T. REX_ to eat!", angrily replied Shannon.

Lee cheerfully nodded and explained,"He trashed _everything_. He ruined the queen's blueprints, our food, and even our web hammocks, all while running around the place. It was kinda funny!"

The queen quickly shot a death glare at her assistant, who nervously backed away.

She continued, "Thankfully, we subdued our guest, and Barty finished off the job by swallowing him whole."

The entire group (sans Master Roshi) all winced in disgust.

The queen sighed,"Now, any _other_ questions?"

Mafin asked,"Why would you want to live at Mount Paozu, of all places?"

Shannon explained, "I just wanted to try out living in a forest for a change. Much more quiet that way. So, I gathered everyone up, we crafted a large makeshift boat, got on, and after a while, we ended up here. We've been living in this cave for two weeks! And amazingly, no one has seen us at all...until now."

She snapped her fingers once more, and the spiders that Mafin and Begu sat on quickly scurried off.

"Alright, we're done with all of that stupid, stupid exposition!", grinned Shannon, "Now, time for me to _FINALLY_ explain my evil plan!"

She cleared her throat in an overdramatic manner and said, "First, I'll send my spiders out to gather all seven balls together. Then, I'll summon the Eternal Dragon Shenron, and tell him to transform every person on Earth, with the exception of myself, into spiders! The wildlife will be the only other creatures spared. Through this wish, everybody on Earth will know what its like to be one of us. And I, Queen Shannon, will _RULE THEM ALL!_ "

Shannon let out another insane laugh, and this time it echoed throughout the cave.

Mafin growled,"You...you won't get away with this!"

The queen playfully nudged his chin, "I think I _will_ , orange boy..."

"No, I mean, you _really_ won't get away with this. The Dragon Balls don't activate again until a year from now!"

Shannon's eyes widened in shock, and she whispered,"Wait...wha?"

Begu chuckled,"He's right, you know!"

The queen's nostrils flared up, and she began breathing heavily.

She then shouted,"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! I WASTED ALL THIS FREAKIN' TIME PLANNING JUST TO BE **FOILED THAT EASILY?!** "

She angrily punched a nearby stalagmite that was protruding from the floor, causing it to crumble to pieces.

Lee gently nuzzled up against his queen, "Calm down my queen, it's alright. You'll get 'em next time. Just take a nice, calming breath..."

Shannon took several deep breaths, and brushed her hair bang back once more.

The spider queen sighed and looked at her other spiders, "You know what, just eat these guys already. We'll try again next year."

She grumbled to herself as she turned to leave.

All of the spiders began crawling towards the group. Bulma and Oolong whimpered in fear, while Gohan and Krillin struggled to break free once more.

Mafin and Begu looked at one another, and nodded in affirmation, knowing what they had to do.

" _ **WAIT!**_ ", they both yelled out, causing everyone in the room to go silent.

The spider queen groaned and quickly turned back to face them,"What is it _now_?"

With a determined tone of voice, Mafin said,"You said you trained yourself for combat, right? So, we challenge you to a match. Two against one!"

Shannon raised an eyebrow in curiosity,"And what does the outcome entail?"

Mafin replied, "If we win, you'll have to let our friends go, and you'll have to give up on taking over the world."

Begu added, "You also gotta restrain your spider army from hurting anyone else in these forests."

Shannon evilly grinned, "And if _**I**_ win...I ignore all that, and my boys are free to do as they please!"

The duo responded,"Right!"

Bulma fearfully exclaimed, "Wait, what?! Guys, what are you doing?!"

Begu turned to the scientist and smirked,"We figured that instead of beating the crud outta them again, this was the only other way to stop the spiders from eating you guys. Plus, we wanna test out how far we've come as fighters!"

"R-Right now? Can't you just save us first?"

Mafin smiled,"If things get too intense, we'll get you guys out of here quick-"

"You can't," interrupted Shannon, "because my spiders will spray you all with venom the minute you try to cut this match off."

The spider queen then formed a smug expression on her face, making the entire group (with the exception of Roshi) shiver in fear once more.

Bulma nervously gulped, "Well, good luck you two..."

Both men nodded at Bulma, and immediately got into their Turtle School stances.

Shannon balled her hands into fists, and in an instant, concentrated blue flames quickly engulfed them.

The duo exclaimed in unison,"Whoa..."

She chuckled,"Y'know, I haven't used this power on anyone before...other than my spiders. When they're behaving badly, of course..."

Begu rolled his eyes,"Yeah, we don't care. Now shut up, and let's do this."

Shannon growled and muttered,"Sure..."

The room turned silent, as everyone was watching the three combatants with anticipation.

The duo stared at Shannon intently, and the spider queen did the same.

From a distance, a large stalagmite broke off from the ceiling, and fell to the ground.

As if on cue, the three combatants dashed towards each other, and their fists collided with one another. They procceeded to engage in a wild barrage of strikes and blocks, in an almost rhythmic like fashion.

The queen jumped back several feet, and released multiple flame attacks at the duo, to which they instantly dodged with ease.

She glared at the duo, and with the help of her flames, jet propelled herself towards them.

Mafin gulped,"S-She's coming this way!"

Begu said, with a hint of annoyance,"You think I don't know that?!"

Shannon quickly caught up with the duo, and was about to unleash a massive attack.


	13. The Duo vs The Spider Queen

Queen Shannon was about to unleash a massive attack at the duo, but thankfully, they leaped out of the way, and flew upwards towards the cavern ceiling.

Begu cockily shouted,"HA! CAN'T GET US NOW, YA SIX-LEGGED FREAK!"

Mafin chuckled and added,"Yeah! You stupid bug lady!"

The spider queen's right eye twitched in anger and she muttered, "You little insects..."

She crawled all the way up to where they were, making both men gasp in shock.

Shannon laughed,"Did you bozos really think that I couldn't crawl on walls?"

The queen released another powerful burst of fire, and the boys quickly dodged her attack yet again.

Shannon's eyes widened and she exclaimed,"WHAT?!"

Mafin turned to Begu and said,"Alright! Let's show her what we're made of!"

Begu jubilantly nodded,"Yeah, man!"

The two fighters then gave each other a fist bump.

Mafin held out his hands and unleashed a powerful kiai attack, knocking the queen back into a hanging stalagmite.

Begu flew over Mafin, and landed several painful blows at Shannon's stomach, making her cough up some saliva.

Begu floated back several feet, as did Mafin.

Mafin smirked,"Nice job, Begu!", and Begu chuckled,"Heh! It was nothing!"

The spider queen leaped towards a nearby wall, and stuck herself to it. She growled viciously at the both of them.

Shannon gritted her teeth and thought," _This can't be! I am the Almighty Queen of the Spiders! Why are these pests **THAT GOOD AT DODGING MY ATTACKS?!** "_

Her thoughts were interrupted when Begu yawned out loud.

"So, are we gonna continue this battle, or what?",asked the Octorian.

Shannon glared at him and said,"Oh, we'll continue alright..."

Mafin and Begu yelled in unison and charged at the spider queen, who proceeded to do the same.

The three fighters engaged in another round of rapid-fire fisticuffs.

To the others' amazement, Mafin and Begu were clearly starting to overwhelm Shannon, who switched over to defensive attacks.

Eventually, Shannon had enough and quickly elbowed the two fighters in their faces.

They each yelped in pain, and (ignoring his soreness) Mafin asked,"A-Are you ok, Begu?"

While Begu was busy rubbing his own face, he scoffed and replied,"Does it look like it?!"

As the queen let out several short breaths, she thought," _They're decent fighters, I'll give 'em that. Still, I gotta win this! I can't let them ruin my plans for world domination!"_

She grinned, " _Thankfully, I have another trick up my sleeve..."_

Shannon whistled loudly, which prompted Lee to crawl over to her.

She asked,"Lee, do you remember our little practice maneuver?"

The queen's assistant happily nodded,"Yes I do!"

Lee leaped over to the duo, and before Mafin and Begu could get away, he sprayed a large amount of venom in their eyes, causing the boys to recoil in pain.

All of a sudden, Mafin was trapped in a web cocoon by Lee, and Begu (who still couldn't see) angrily shouted,"WHY YOU! I'M GONNA GET YOU, SPIDER!"

But before the Octorian could act, he was trapped in a cocoon as well, thanks to Shannon.

As she was chuckling away, Lee excitedly asked,"Do you want to perform Code 2-2 now?"

"Oh yes!", replied Shannon with a confident tone of voice.

The evil queen raised her fists, and blue flames burst out from them once more.

She yelled out, **"** **NOWHERE TO RUN!"**

Shannon unleashed a rapidly fast barrage of powerful blows onto the boys, who were rendered helpless by the thick webbing.

She laughed madly as she did this, and exclaimed, "This'll teach you not to challenge **ME!** Queen Shannon of the Spiders!"

The rest of group watched with horrified expressions. Bulma looked away in fright, Oolong and Gohan looked on in horror, while Krillin shouted,"MAFIN! BEGU! NOOO!"

The queen finished her assault by releasing a gigantic wave of blue flames from both of her hands.


	14. Something Snaps Inside Begu!

The smoke cleared, and Mafin and Begu turned out to be unscathed by the flames. Plus, they could also see again!

However, they were still trapped in webbing, and badly bruised up.

Oolong, Krillin and Gohan all sighed in relief, thankful that the duo were alright.

Bulma, with tears in her eyes, thought, "Oh thank Kami! They're alive!"

Shannon, at a loss for words, asked,"H-How? How did you two survive all **that**?"

Begu spat out some blood, and triumphantly replied," 'Cause we're awesome, that's why!"

The queen sighed and thought," _Well_ , _at least they're badly injured..."_

She used her front spider leg to cut open both of their web cocoons, causing the duo to stumble out onto the ground in pain.

Shannon smirked evilly, "Looks like I win, fair and square."

Mafin scoffed,"Fair? That was a dirty and cheap trick you pulled off!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I don't wanna hear it.", said the queen, who waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

She put her hands on her hips and smiled, "Now then, bow before your future master."

Hearing that last sentence caused Begu to quietly mutter, "Never..."

Mafin recognized the icy tone in Begu's voice, and he quickly grew frightened.

He stood up and looked at Shannon.

"Y-You really shouldn't have uttered those words...", he said fearfully.

She laughed haughtily and asked,"Oh? Why is that?"

Suddenly, Begu became enraptured in a red aura as he slowly stood up.

He let out a scream of pure rage, and angrily yelled," **I AM NO ONE'S LACKEY! NOT ANYMORE!** "

The Octorian rammed his fist into Queen Shannon's face, sending her flying through the cave. She crashed right through the cavern walls, and out into the forest.

Begu flew right out of the massive hole Shannon created, and screamed, " **WHERE ARE YOU FRIEZA?!"**

He blasted off to search for the spider queen.

Mafin fell to his knees and said,"N-No...please. Not this again..."

Everyone else, including all of the spiders, had a look of pure shock on their faces.

Bulma stammered,"Wh-What was...that?"

Krillin said,"It felt like Begu's power just shot right back up!"

Gohan nodded,"Yeah! Kind of like whenever I get angry in a battle!"

Oolong thought,"That spider lady must've done _something_ to upset him!"

Bulma looked down at Mafin, who was now sitting quietly on the cavern floor.

He ate the remaining Senzu Bean that was still in his pocket, which instantly healed him.

"Hey Mafin, what just happened to Begu?", asked the scientist.

The Pesutorian sighed deeply and replied, "Queen Shannon said the one thing he absolutely despises: Bowing down to others."

Confused by Mafin's statement, Bulma was about to ask why, when all of a sudden the group saw Lee crawling towards the hole in an extremely frantic manner.

Lee cried out, "My queen!"

He was about to jump out, when Mafin grabbed him from behind.

The Pesutorian threw him to the ground, and angrily said,"You're not going anywhere. You're gonna let my friends go **_now_** , or else I'll do to you what your queen did to us."

The assistant gulped in a nervous manner, and he said,"Ok, ok, I-I'll let them go! Please don't hurt me!"

Mafin summoned a small ki sphere, and held it up as he cast a rather terrifying death glare at the other spiders, causing all of them to back away in fear.

He quietly flew over to grab each of his friends' cocoons.

The Pesutorian placed them gently on the floor, and Lee used his front spider leg to cut open the cocoons, freeing the gang.

Bulma stood up, stretched her arms out, and happily said, "I'm free! I can finally move again!"

Gohan agreed,"Yeah! It feels great!"

Oolong glanced at Master Roshi, who was still asleep, and asked,"Anyone wanna carry him?"

Krillin sighed,"I'll do it."

The monk walked over and hoisted the old master on his back.

Mafin cleared his throat, making the group turn to face him,"Everyone, Begu's out there with the queen, and he's not himself. He's seething with pure, blinding rage, and Shannon may use that factor against him—if anything, he could get killed. I can't let that happen to my best friend."

He balled his hand into a fist and exclaimed, "Now, let's go save him!"

The group collectively shouted,"RIGHT!"

* * *

Queen Shannon regained consciousness, and stood back up.

She saw that she was now somewhere in a deeper part of the forest.

The queen groaned in pain, and rubbed her head.

She felt a warm liquid running down from her nose.

She wiped it off, and saw a single smear of blood on the back of her hand.

Shannon smirked and thought," _Normally, I'd go ballistic if a single drop of blood was spilled from me, but right now I don't care. That stupid alien is clearly running on adrenaline, so that means he'll tucker out eventually! Which leaves me with a bigger advantage! So, for now, I'll have some fun with the little guy. Better give him a signal."_

The spider queen let out a mighty power yell as she began charging up, emitting blue, flame-like ki in the process.

Begu sensed her energy, and blasted right over to Shannon's location, where he saw a massive blue aura swirling around the queen.

She saw the short alien and asked, "Are we gonna continue this battle, or what?"

Begu angrily growled and flew down towards the queen. He tried to perform a sweeping kick, but Shannon dodged it.

The Octorian screamed as he began unleashing a series of punches at her, but they were so wild and uncoordinated that the queen easily managed to dodge them too.

Shannon grinned at Begu, "Seriously? Now you can't even land **one** hit on me? Whatever happened to that statement of being awesome? Or were you just bluffing?"

She swiftly jabbed him in the chest with a palm strike, causing him to be knocked back into a nearby oak tree.

He coughed up some blood, and wiped it away from his mouth.

" **FRIEZA! I'LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU SAID IN THAT CAVE!** ",yelled Begu as he charged towards Shannon once more. He unleashed a series of rapid-fire kicks at the queen, who immediately avoided the various attacks. She thought,"Frieza? Who the heck is that?"

She decided to ignore that question and just continue the fight, seeing how Begu clearly wasn't giving up.

He jumped on Shannon's shoulders and began rapidly striking her in the face. As he reeled back to release one more punch on Shannon, the queen rammed her head onto the purple alien, causing him to fall on his rear.

As Begu's forehead began bleeding, he glared at the spider queen, whose bruises quickly healed.

She chuckled and said,"Are you finished? Or are you just going to keep on attacking me like a baboon?"

Begu snarled in anger and was about to charge at her again, but suddenly collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain.

The spider queen thought to herself," _He's down. Perfect!"_

Shannon then crawled over to him, and pulled the purple alien into a chokehold.

"That was quite a scene you pulled off," whispered the queen, "Now, it's time I finally finish you, once and for all..."

She tightened her grip, which caused the Octorian slip into unconciousness.

"BEGU!", called out Mafin.

The queen rolled her eyes and turned around to face the Pesutorian and the rest of the group.

Shannon said,"Your purple friend is down for the count, so would you really risk trying to take me on, AND endanger your human friends in the process?"

Mafin let out a sigh of defeat and said, "Well, I suppose, in that case..."

He turned to Krillin and yelled,"NOW!"

" **SOLAR** **FLARE!** ", shouted the monk as he leaped up from behind the Pesutorian.

Everyone quickly shielded their eyes, with the exception of Queen Shannon of course.

The queen hissed out in pain, screaming,"MY EYES!"

She dropped Begu, and tried to cover her eyes. Mafin grabbed his friend and hoisted the short alien on his back.

Mafin exclaimed,"Let's go! Quickly!"

The group ran off in a hurry. As Krillin, Gohan, and Mafin began flying upwards, the latter two heroes grabbed Bulma and Oolong by their arms.

Shannon looked up to see the heroes fly off, and she yelled out,"Now who's the one with the cheap tricks, huh?!"

She thought to herself, " _But, they **do** have a point about not killing anybody in these forests. Wouldn't want to cause any unwanted attention..."_

"Still, that doesn't mean I'll give up on taking over the world. At least now I know who exactly I'm up against...," said Shannon as she grinned evilly, "So beware, you two. I won't just be planning for my wish, but I'm also gonna train even harder! And if we cross paths again, I will be STRONGER than before!"

She let out a sinister chuckle as she watched the sun go down in the distance.

After a while, the queen scratched her head and asked herself,"Now, how the heck am I gonna get back home?"

She shrugged,"Eh, better just wait for Lee and the others."


	15. Revelations

The group landed in a grassy field, far away from the spider queen.

Krillin wiped the sweat off his brow and sighed,"Finally, glad that's over with. At least we're all safe."

The group quietly nodded in agreement.

Oolong questioned, "But where the heck do we go now? At this point, the picnic site's probably infested with bugs and stuff."

Bulma yawned and added,"Yeah, plus it's late, and I'm starting to feel a little tired..."

Everyone pondered this thought for a moment.

Then, Gohan spoke up, "Why don't we just go over to my house? Thankfully, it's not that far from here!"

Krillin grinned,"I like the sound of that! How about you guys?"

Bulma and Oolong let out a cheer of agreement (while Mafin merely nodded).

Seeing how it was late, they decided to simply stay at the Son family residence for the rest of the night.

It was at that moment that Master Roshi **finally** woke up, completely startled. He hopped off of Krillin's back, and examined the group's current disheveled appearances.

Krillin was sweaty and his clothes were completely covered in grass stains, dirt stains, and various amounts of spider silk, as was Gohan's. Oolong and Bulma's clothes also had some bits of spider silk stuck on them. While Mafin looked alright, Begu was drenched with sweat and severely bruised as well.

"Eh?!", exclaimed Roshi, "What happened to you guys?"

"Well...i-it's a long story...", replied the monk with a small sigh.

As Krillin, Gohan and Oolong explained to Master Roshi about the crazy events that happened earlier, Bulma, concerned about Mafin, walked over to him.

The Pesutorian carried a stiil unconscious Begu on his back, and he had a blank expression on his face.

The blue-haired scientist nudged him on the shoulder, startling him.

Upon seeing that it was Bulma, the Pesutorian said, "Oh, hello..."

"You ok?", asked Bulma with a soft smile.

Mafin half-heartedly replied,"Uh...y-yeah..."

But the scientist could already tell that he was not fine, since he immediately went back to having that exact same blank expression.

And it probably had to do with a certain freakout from earlier.

However, she decided not to ask any questions related to that event, mainly out of respect for her friend.

* * *

After a while, the group arrived at the Son family residence.

Mafin saw Gohan knock on the door. Just then, a woman with black hair wrapped in a bun walked out and looked down at the young boy.

"Ah, Gohan! You're back!", happily exclaimed the woman.

Her eyes widened upon seeing his rather disheveled appearance.

She fearfully asked, "W-What happened to you?! Why do you look so dirty?!"

Gohan stammered,"U-Um...w-well I-"

"Gohan and I had a **very** intense training match, but it kinda got outta hand!", interrupted Krillin, who rubbed the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh afterwards.

The woman glared at the monk and huffed,"Well, I expected better from you, Krillin. I don't need you to be turning barbaric as well."

Krillin lowered his head in shame and said,"Sorry, Chi-Chi. It won't happen again."

Chi-Chi nodded and looked at the rest of the group, "So, how was the picnic?"

The group gave extremely nervous stares at one another. Knowing Chi-Chi, they obviously couldn't tell her what _really_ happened.

They all looked back at her and collectively said,"We had a fun time..."

The young woman said,"That's good!"

Bulma added,"We were also thinking of spending the night here, since we're all kinda exhausted now."

Chi-Chi smiled, "Well, don't you worry! I've got some spare blankets in the closet, just in case something like this happens, so you should be fine. Now come on in!"

The group sighed in relief, and walked inside.

The black-haired woman saw Mafin coming in, and she asked,"Hey, aren't you that guy who used to work for the Frieza Force? At least, that's what Gohan told me."

Mafin nervously chuckled,"Y-Yeah! And don't worry! I have no plans to take over the world! I promise!"

He rapidly bowed several times, prompting Chi-Chi to say,"Alright, alright! Don't hurt yourself!"

Mafin stammered,"S-Sorry!"

He carefully laid Begu down on the couch.

Chi-Chi raised an eyebrow in confusion,"What happened to him?"

"U-Uh...w-we were...also training. And he...um...got knocked out.", lied Mafin as he was rapidly sweating.

Chi-Chi sighed deeply and said, "I'll never truly understand you people and your desire for fighting..."

"Sorry!", exclaimed Mafin.

The Pesutorian quickly sat down next to his unconsious friend.

Chi-Chi then proceeded to pull out some blankets from the closet, and handed each one to the group. Afterwards, she told Gohan to take a shower, and the Saiyan hybrid walked to the bathroom to do so.

Krillin turned to the group and said,"We, uh, better go in after he's finished..."

The group sheepishly chuckled and nodded in agreement.

Oolong asked,"Wait, do we even _have_ extra clothes?"

Krillin groaned in annoyance and sighed,"Well, looks like we're gonna have to sleep with what we're currently wearing for tonight."

Bulma thought, " _Great, now I have to sleep with spider silk on my clothes?! Why didn't I bring an extra capsule with me?!"_

Mafin then asked the monk, "Hey, Krillin, could you fly up to Korin's Tower for a bit? We need one more Senzu Bean. Begu's currently out cold, so he kinda needs it."

Krillin grinned,"You got it!"

Mafin sighed and smiled gratefully at the monk,"Thanks man."

Krillin then ran out the door and flew off into the starry night sky.

He arrived back an hour later, and gave the Senzu Bean to Mafin.

Mafin quickly put the bean into Begu's mouth. The Octorian's injuries instantly healed as he woke up.

He panted heavily, and calmed down upon seeing Mafin and Krillin.

"Wh-What the heck happened?", he asked, "Did we win?"

Mafin nervously explained,"Y-You kinda...well, you kind of went a little-"

"I had another freakout, didn't I?", interrupted Begu.

Mafin sighed,"Yeah...you did."

"And Shannon ended up beating me, right?"

"Y-Yeah. Thankfully, we managed to escape."

Begu sighed in relief and laid his head down.

Krillin's eyes widened in shock, "Wait a minute! _Another_ freakout?! What do you mean 'another' ?"

Gohan (who was now dressed in his pajamas) asked, "Did something happen to you guys?"

Begu gulped and nervously looked off to the side, while Mafin rubbed his arm in an uncomfortable manner.

They really didn't want to talk about... **that** event.

However, due to what happened several hours earlier, it looks like they had no choice but to discuss the event in question.

Master Roshi calmly spoke up, "It's probably something deeply personal. They may not be ready to talk about-"

"No," interrupted Mafin as he sat up, "It's alright. We'll talk about it."

Bulma turned to the Pesutorian with a concerned expression, "Are you sure, Mafin?"

Mafin nodded and replied,"Yes. It's time you all knew."

Chi-Chi walked back into the room, dressed in a nightgown.

She turned to Gohan and asked,"What's going on? What are they talking about?"

The young hybrid replied, "Mafin and Begu are about to explain their history with the Frieza Force."

The black haired woman said, "Ooh, ok."

Begu sat upright and asked Mafin, "Ready for this, dude?"

The Pesutorian sighed and nodded in affirmation.

He began to tell the story...

* * *

 _It was a month after their high school graduation, and Mafin and Begu were on the latter's home planet, Octoria._

 _It was a very futuristic type world, filled with floating metallic buildings, space cruisers, and ships._

 _The boys were currently relaxing at Begu's home, which was located in a very large apartment. Mafin's parents were also there too, as they had decided to take a vacation on Octoria for the first time._

 _The duo were on another round of video games, when all of a sudden, they heard Begu's mother fearfully exclaim,"Boys, come outside! Now!"_

 _They flew outside to see a massive circluar ship land on a nearby platform._

 _The dreaded Frieza Force mothership._

 _Two henchman walked out of the entrance. One was pink-skinned, short, pudgy and had spikes on his forehead and arms. The other was tall, had light blue skin, and had green hair tied up into a braided ponytail._

 _A rather large crowd of Octorians gathered together to see what was going on. Mafin, Begu and their respective parents joined the crowd as they watched a small horned alien in a hoverchair float above them._

 _He spoke in an eloquent tone of voice,"Ah yes. Hello again, Octorians. You see, we are currently looking for new recruits for the Frieza Force, and we were wondering if more of your powerful warriors would like join us once more."_

 _Begu scoffed and he shouted,"ARE YOU KIDDING ME, FRIEZA?! YOU TOOK **ALL** OF THE WARRIORS WE HAVE, INCLUDING OUR BEST ONE, APPULE!"_

 _Frieza muttered,"He's your **best** one?"_

 _Mafin worriedly said,"Uh, Begu...maybe it's best to keep your voice down..."_

 _Begu angrily yelled,"NO! I'm tired of this guy constantly coming here, and asking for more warriors! We have **none** left at this point! The little prick should just stop using us now!"_

 _The Emperor of the Universe growled at Begu's insult, but then deviously smirked as a new idea came to his mind._

 _Frieza chuckled, "You know what, kid? You're right. I don't need your race anymore. I'll just take you and your friend instead."_

 _The small alien motioned his henchmen to grab the duo, and they quickly flew down. Zarbon grabbed Mafin from behind, as did Dodoria with Begu, much to their respective parents' horror. The duo struggled to break free, but they couldn't even budge an inch!_

 _The henchmen, with Mafin and Begu in tow, flew back up to where Frieza was._

 _Frieza grinned and got out of his hoverchair. He held out his index finger._

 _In an instant, a gigantic, red ki sphere quickly formed on his finger. Realizing the impending danger, everyone flew off screaming and fleeing for their lives._

 _The duo's parents, meanwhile, looked on in horror as they saw their children grunt and scream helplessly._

 _The evil tyrant floated upwards a few feet and shouted,"FAREWELL OCTORIA!"_

 _He unleashed the attack, and it instantly wiped out everything, including the population. The entire planet erupted in a massive explosion, and our two heroes were forced to watch the whole event go down._

 _All that remained were the Frieza Force ship, the emperor (who sat back down in his hoverchair), his two henchmen, and the duo._

 _The henchmen brought the duo closer to Frieza, and the tyrant asked,"Zarbon, Dodoria, would you please release these two? It would make me very happy to see their reactions."_

 _They nodded and did as Frieza asked._

 _Mafin and Begu each had horrified looks on their faces, which made the tryant grin with satisfaction._

 _Mafin stammered,"O-Our parents...and the planet. They're all...they're all gone..."_

 _Begu began breathing heavily, and he stared at Frieza, who let out a wicked cackle._

 _Mafin noticed this and fearfully said,"Begu, please. Please don't engage..."_

 _But Begu ignored Mafin and let out a rage-filled scream. He immediately made a dash towards the emperor._

 _Frieza rolled his eyes in annoyance, and swiftly jabbed the alien in the stomach._

 _Begu doubled over, coughing up a massive amount of blood._

 _Frieza then quickly clenched Begu's jaw and smirked,"You actually stood up to me. How magnificent. And incredibly stupid."_

 _He let go of Begu's jaw, causing the Octorian to float back a few feet._

 _Frieza smiled darkly, "Now then, bow before your master."_

* * *

Mafin sighed deeply and continued, "After that, we essentially became a part of his empire. We joined a group of lackeys, which were filled with vaious aliens of different species."

The orange hero frowned,"Our first days on the Force weren't very pleasant. Our group recieved pretty harsh blaster training from Zarbon, just in case we were attacked by some random creature. Initially, we didn't believe him, but it turned out to be true! There was this one time in which we actually were attacked by random creatures while on the job. Thankfully, all of us managed to survive."

Begu added,"We could never tell that dude our thoughts or opinions while we were lackeys..."

Mafin nodded in agreement,"He would always cut us off or ignore us the minute we tried to do so, and in a really cold way too."

Begu shuddered and decided to move onto a new topic, "The cafeteria's food, man. Remember the food?"

Mafin grimaced as he recalled, "That was not pleasant. All they served there was a dish called gruel."

He then said, "Although, I remember asking some random FF soldier about this, and it turns out that there USED to be actual good food on the ship, but due to budget cuts-"

"I don't care about budget cuts!," interrupted Bulma, "I care about you guys! What else happened to you?"

Mafin nervously responded, "W-Well, we were forced to serve Zarbon and follow his orders. And that meant we..."

He covered his mouth in fear, and quickly exclaimed,"I-I can't say it! This might be a bit too disturbing for Gohan!"

With a determined tone of voice, Gohan said, "Mafin, it's fine. I can take it."

The Pesutorian stared at the young boy to see if he was serious.

Gohan held a determined look on his face to confirm this.

Mafin sighed, "Alright. We were...forced to watch as the remaining Saiyans killed thousands of people from different planets for sport. We also had to watch Frieza, Zarbon and Dodoria wipe out countless worlds, all without breaking a sweat!"

Begu added, "And our group was basically the clean up crew. For a year, we...we removed any bloody carcass and debris that the Saiyans left behind...all so that Frieza could make the planet look pretty to sell."

The entire group looked on with sheer horror. Most of them already knew about the Frieza Force's brutal methods, but they had no idea they were **this** cruel to their lackeys!

Begu let out a soft chuckle, "You know what's funny? All of this is my fault. W-We lost our parents, I lost my people, and we saw so much horrifying stuff...because of me."

The Octorian clenched his teeth and angrily yelled,"Why didn't I keep my mouth shut?! I'm such an idiot!"

Bulma quietly walked up to the purple alien, and put a hand on his shoulder.

She calmly said, "Begu, what you did back then...it doesn't matter anymore. You're here with us now."

"IT MATTERS TO ME! I STILL DID IT!", shouted Begu as his hands began trembling.

"But, Begu-"

"JUST SAY I'M AN IDIOT, BULMA! **JUST SAY IT!** "

He let out a few short breaths and whispered, "S-Say it..."

The Octorian then burst into tears.

Mafin looked away, desperately trying to hold back his own tears, but to no avail.

Bulma tightly embraced the both of them, softly whispering,"It's ok...it's ok..."

Everyone else merely remained silent.

* * *

Several minutes later, the duo ceased their breakdowns, and were officialy ready to resume their tale.

Mafin said, "Bulma and Roshi, you guys might have heard this part before, but we're just going to let the others know about it. Is that ok with you?"

Bulma and the Turtle Hermit replied in unison, "Sure, it's fine."

Mafin began,"So, one day, we were walking back inside the mothership, when all of a sudden, Zarbon informed us that after a quick stop on Equus-7, we would be heading to a new planet called Namek. After he left, Begu pulled me aside, and began chatting with me."

Begu nodded,"I said, 'I can't take this insanity anymore, let's just leave this place. The minute the mothership departs for Namek, we'll hightail it out of here before anybody sees.' Mafin agreed with me, and we headed back to our rooms to rest up."

Mafin continued, "On the day that the ship was about to leave Equus-7, Begu crushed our scounters. We quickly said goodbye to our fellow lackeys, and the two of us hid in the planet's tall grass so that no one else could see us."

Begu said,"After the ship left, we roamed around the planet for a bit, until finally, we found this old busted up spaceship. I wanted to use those Saiyan pods, but we couldn't do that because we were in a 'hurry'..."

Mafin scoffed,"We actually were, dude! We had no choice! We couldn't risk getting caught by the Frieza Force!"

He then sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "And I admit, I also thought that the old ship would be less suspicious..."

Begu finished the recap,"Anyways, we found a bunch of raw meat and old parts in the trunk of the ship, we got off the planet, and released that stuff in the middle of space. And, well, here we are."

Krillin nodded,"So, in order to escape undetected, you basically managed to fool the Frieza Force into thinking that you were dead. That's smart."

Master Roshi sighed and said,"We're just glad you boys are alright now. You two definitely went through a hell of a journey."

Mafin frowned,"Yeah, for better or worse..."

Bulma smiled warmly,"Hey, what matters is that you guys made it out alive, and that you're here safe and sound. And you're definitely not gonna get ignored by us! So, if you're ever feeling like you need to talk to someone about anything, you can always talk to me, or to Krillin, or the rest of the gang if you want. We're all here for you."

Both men stared at the entire group, who nodded in agreement.

These people, who they have only known for a whole month (or a whole day/ several minutes, in the case of Oolong and Chi-Chi), were already accepting them with open arms, and were offering to listen to their troubles.

It felt...rather nice.

The duo smiled in response.

"Thank you...", they both said in unison.


	16. Meeting a Bio-Android!

The next day, Mafin and Begu had decided to take a quick flight around the planet, just to see more of its wonderful sights.

They had flown over various locations, such as cities, forests, jungles, mountains, volcanoes, and canyons.

Some locations were just utterly _beautiful_ to look at, while others...not so much.

It was now the mid-afternoon, and the boys had decided to stop and rest at a random rocky wasteland.

Begu yawned and asked Mafin,"Ready to head back now? I'm kinda starting to get a little hungry."

The Pesutorian smiled and replied, "Sure, let's head back to..."

He trailed off upon seeing a mysterious cave several feet from above.

Mafin said, "That cave looks, and feels...odd. I sense multiple energies at once, and they strangely feel like...everyone at the Lookout, and Gohan."

Begu chuckled,"Look, dude, those guys are probably just training right now."

"No, as far as we've known them, they never train on the weekends. And their energies usually don't feel jumbled together."

He stroked his chin and thought, " _What is this cave hiding?"_

Begu then groaned, "Alright, alright! That stupid cave gives you the heebie-jeebies! Let's just blow it up and go!"

Mafin sighed and said,"Sorry Begu, but I'm curious! I kinda want to check this out."

Begu rolled his eyes in annoyance,"Fine. But this better be quick!"

Mafin smiled,"Don't worry, it will!"

The boys flew towards the cave, and walked in.

Their eyes widened as they came across a random laboratory.

They walked inside, and saw various blueprints strewn all over several large desks, as well as various tools, wires, and cybernetic parts laid out on the cold, metallic floor.

The duo also saw a row of human-sized pods, each of them labeled #9-15, and strangely, all of them appeared to be destroyed.

Begu muttered,"Yeesh, whoever was working here must've had a **real** fondness for robots."

Mafin nodded in agreement, "Yeah..."

The Pesutorian then immediately stopped in his tracks as he sensed the strange energy once more, and this time, it felt far closer.

He noticed a green glow that was emitting from another room, and ran towards it, with Begu trailing behind him.

Mafin and Begu arrived at the room, and both men gasped in shock as they came across an unusual sight: a fully grown woman floating in a bio-chamber filled with a green liquid.

She was a rather tall, curvaceous woman with large locks of brown hair.

Mafin sensed her energy, and sure enough, the combined ki definitely belonged to her.

"Why would anyone want to combine our friends' energies into a single being?", thought Mafin aloud.

Begu said with a shrug,"I dunno. Probably just some crackpot inventor that just did it for kicks."

Mafin nodded and said,"The person responsible for all this doesn't seem to be around here anymore, so we should probably just take her with us."

Begu let out an excited laugh,"Alright! Another powerful fighter on our side!"

Mafin smiled,"Yeah, but first, we all have to introduce ourselves to one another. So let's get her out of there."

The Octorian saw a small remote control that was conveniently located on a nearby chair, as well as a bunch of clothes resting on the back of the chair.

He pressed a large black button on it, which unlocked the bottom hatch of the bio-chamber, releasing the woman, as well as the green liquid.

The woman fell to the floor, and instantly woke up.

"Wh-Where am I?", she asked herself as she slowly sat up, rubbing her head.

She saw the duo and immediately screamed at the sight of the two newcomers.

Mafin quickly approached her, exclaiming,"It's ok! It's ok! We're not going to hurt you! We just wanted to know if you're alright!"

The woman quietly replied,"I-I'm fine..." and sighed in relief.

Both men decided to sit down next to her.

She stared at the duo more closely and asked, "Are you two...aliens?

"Well, duh!", said Begu.

The woman smiled, "Fascinating. I never encountered aliens before. What are your names?"

Mafin replied, "I'm Mafin, and the purple guy next to me is my best friend Begu."

Begu happily said,"Hey-o!"

The woman nodded,"It's a pleasure to meet you two. I am Android 21."

She stood up and bowed politely towards them.

Begu whispered,"Huh, so that's why all those other pods say 9 through 15."

Mafin thought," _Then I assume that the other androids here are failed experiments. But if that's the case, where are #1 through #16? And where are #17 through #20?"_

He was about to ponder this question further, but then Android 21 asked, "What are you two doing here? How did you find me?"

Mafin stood up and said,"I sensed your energy from outside the cave, so we followed it all the way over to this room. And that's where we found you."

He then asked,"Since this lab is abandoned, do you want to come with us? You look like you were trapped in that thing for some time."

Android 21 turned around to look at her recently opened bio-chamber.

She turned back to face Mafin, and she replied,"Oh, um...sure."

21 then nervously blushed as she realized something very important: "But, i-is it ok if I change into some clothes first? I'm currently...you know...naked..."

Mafin blushed a deep crimson upon realizing this, and nervously replied,"U-Umm, yeah, sure! W-We'll be outside waiting for you!"

He and Begu quickly walked out of the room to let Android 21 change.

* * *

The duo waited paitiently for the android.

Mafin turned to Begu and asked,"So, do you think the other androids are still out there?"

"Nah, they're all probably destroyed by now. I mean, we never saw any of them at the locations we flew around, right?", replied Begu, who let out a big yawn.

Mafin nodded and thought," _That is true. I don't recall seeing any other androids, and none of the guys ever mentioned fighting off against one, so I guess Begu might be right. Maybe they really are gone."_

"Hey guys, I'm ready!", called out 21.

The duo saw the android quietly walking out of the cave with her new outfit.

21 wore a large lab coat over a red and blue dress, and black stockings for her arms and legs. She also wore dual golden braclets on her wrists, as well as matching hoop earrings. Plus, she donned a pair of thick rimmed glasses, and high heels that matched her dress, one red and the other blue.

Begu smirked,"Nice outfit!"

Mafin grinned,"I absolutely agree!"

Android 21 bashfully smiled and said,"Thank you."

Mafin asked,"Can you fly? Because we're about to take off to Kame House."

21 replied,"I'll see if I can do it." and concentrated for a bit.

She levitated off the edge of the cave, and smiled with delight.

The android instantly flew over to the duo, and they happily gave her a thumbs-up.

Mafin said,"Alright, guys. Let's go!"

The trio blasted off into the sky, and began flying towards their destination.


	17. A Discussion at Capsule Corp

There was a light breeze in the air as the trio continued to fly across the ocean.

They all flew in a single line, with Mafin in front, Begu in the middle, and 21 in the back.

Wanting to speak with Mafin in private, Begu flew over to the Pesutorian and tapped him on the shoulder.

Mafin asked,"Yeah, Begu? What's up?"

Begu chuckled, "I _still_ can't believe it, man!"

"Can't believe what?"

"You not noticing that 21 was naked!"

Mafin nervously blushed and exclaimed,"W-Well...you know...I was completely oblivious to the fact that she was naked...a-and the thing is..."

He took a deep breath and said quickly, "Ihaven'tseenanactualnakedgirlsincehighschool!"

Begu's eyes widened and he burst out into laughter, making Mafin even more red with embarrassment.

Begu wiped a tear from his eye and exclaimed, "Dude, we traveled to multiple planets, where EVERYONE was naked! And Master Roshi has a _BUNCH_ of dirty magazines where the ladies are in the nude! How have you not seen a naked chick since high school?"

Mafin sighed,"When we were on those planets, I closed my eyes and looked away because I didn't want to look like a pervert. Same goes for those magazines. And it's all because-"

"Wait! Don't tell me!," interrupted Begu, "It's because of that ONE time in high school, isn't it?! Y'know, the time where you accidentally went inside the girls' locker-"

Mafin quickly covered Begu's mouth and nodded to confirm his answer.

The Pesutorian heard Begu chuckle, and he let out a sigh of embarrassment.

Mafin then inquired,"How do you know about the... _explicit_ content in those magazines?"

"Well, one night I had-"

"What are you guys talking about?", asked Android 21, who flew far closer to the duo.

Mafin quickly replied,"N-Nothing!"

He let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

The Pesutorian asked,"So, um, 21, how are you doing so far?"

Android 21 smiled and replied,"I'm okay."

The android woman then asked,"I wonder, how long have you two known each other?"

Begu happily replied,"I've known Mafin since our high school freshmen days! Dude's been like a brother to me!"

Mafin added,"I absolutely agree."

21 happily exclaimed, "Aww! That's so sweet!"

Begu chuckled, "Yeah, we've been through it all! Acne, braces, and that gloriously terrible teenage stage we all know as puberty."

"BEGU! Did you really have to bring _those_ old memories up?!", hissed Mafin, who (once again) blushed in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's true.", said the Octorian, who nonchalantly shrugged.

Android 21 chuckled and thought," _Amazing! Despite their alien origins, their bodies presumably went through a development process similar to humans on Earth. It's honestly incredible!"_

She saw the two of them engage in another nostalgia based conversation.

" _So far, these gentlemen seem like rather nice people...and their combined energy is so...so...delicious! I wonder what they taste like as desserts..."_

Her eyes widened in shock and horror at that rather disturbing thought.

She ignored that thought, and proceeded to ask Mafin and Begu questions about what they did before they arrived on Earth, and why they are currently residing on the planet.

The duo decided not to tell her the full story, since they just met her, and they didn't want to overwhelm her with so much information.

Plus, they also really didn't want to talk about those awful memories again.

Instead, the duo simply explained that they once worked as henchmen for a now-defunct galactic empire. They have just reformed, and they are currently residing on Earth, free from the clutches of the empire.

The Pesutorian smiled softly, "Nowadays, we have a new purpose: training. Training to protect this world."

He explained, "All throughout the time we've been here-which is a month-we've been training with our martial artist friends up at a place called the Lookout. And we've learned so many things too! I feel like we've grown stronger because of it!"

Begu nodded in agreement and said,"He's right! I mean, just yesterday, we had an epic battle with a spider queen and her minions!"

"W-What?!", exclaimed a confused 21.

"Um, that's a long story...", said Mafin, who sheepishly rubbed his head.

He saw the small island and said,"Alright guys! We're here!"

* * *

The trio landed on the island and saw Krillin walk out of the house.

"Hey! How was the trip?", cheerfully asked the monk.

Begu happily replied, "It was fun! We got to see all sorts of sights!"

Android 21 asked Mafin, "Trip? What trip?"

The Pesutorian nervously chuckled and replied, "Earlier today, we flew around the planet for a while, just to look at random locations. Sorry, I kinda forgot to mention that!"

Confused by the new person standing next to the duo, Krillin asked,"Who's the girl?"

The android saw Krillin and nervously exclaimed,"O-Oh! I apologize, good sir! I am Android 21!"

She quickly bowed in front of the monk, who said,"Hey, hey, it's alright! No need to apologize!"

He then introduced himself to the android.

21 smiled,"It's a pleasure to meet you, Krillin."

The monk immediately noticed a familiar red insignia on 21's shoulder.

A red insignia affiliated with a certain group that Krillin knew all too well...

Krillin stammered,"H-Hey, uh, you...wouldn't happen to have worked with a certain organization with the word 'Ribbon' in their name, right?"

21 raised an eyebrow in confusion, and then immediately realized what he was referring to.

She explained, "Well, I don't remember doing anything with the Red Ribbon Army at all. I was mainly kept in stasis deep within a lab for years, and only recently I was awakened by Mafin and Begu. I assume that the lab was probably abandoned by them long ago..."

21 then smiled warmly at the monk, "So, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

Krillin sighed in relief and muttered,"Ok, th-that's good..."

Begu said with a chuckle, "It's kind of an interesting story as to how we found her. Ain't that right, Mafin?"

Mafin nodded in agreement,"It's very interesting all right..."

While the duo explained to Krillin the full story, 21 stared at the monk with an unsettling hunger in her eyes.

She thought, " _This...this human...has more energy than these two aliens combined! I'll bet he'll be even MORE tasty! I must turn him into a chocolate bar and-_ "

"Uh, 21? Are you ok?", asked Mafin.

The android snapped out of her thoughts and saw Mafin, Begu, and Krillin stare at her with confused and concerned expressions.

21 quickly replied,"Uh...yeah! I-I'm fine."

She decided to move on to a new subject, "So, how are your training sessions on the Lookout going so far?"

Begu cheerfully replied,"It's going great!"

He put his arm around the monk's shoulder,"This dude's an awesome teacher! He's been training us to become awesome martial artists!"

Krillin bashfully chuckled and said,"Thanks Begu, and speaking of training, your 'big day' begins tomorrow!"

The duo looked at one another, puzzled at what Krillin was alluding to.

"Um, are we going back to the Lookout?", asked Mafin, "Because I thought we would be resuming next week."

Krillin replied, "Nonono, you two are gonna do something different. Remember what I said before at the picnic?"

The duo's eyes widened in shock as they instantly recalled what Krillin said yesterday.

They collectively thought," _Aw great! **That** test?!"_

Krillin smirked,"So be ready."

Begu stammered,"Wh-Where's it even gonna be at?"

"It's on the island where Master Roshi trained me and Goku. And this was back when we were kids!"

Mafin asked,"Oh, so are you going to train us in the exact same way he trained you guys?"

Krillin replied,"Well, almost. You see, he trained us for eight months, but I decided to shorten it by half of that time."

"So...we'll be training on the island for FOUR months?!", deduced Mafin.

"Yep!", exclaimed the monk.

As the duo gulped nervously, Master Roshi walked out, and stretched his arms.

He yawned, "Hey Krillin, how's it go-"

The old master caught sight of 21 and ran over to her.

"OH HO HO! WHO IS THIS FINE WOMAN?!",excitedly yelled Roshi.

21 nervously said,"H-Hello..."

Mafin spoke up,"Master Roshi, this is Android 21. We found her in an abandoned labora-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever! This android lady has amazing melons!",said Roshi, who was now checking out 21's...ahem...buxom.

Mafin nervously looked away, while Begu growled, "I-Is he serious?!"

Krillin tapped a nervous 21's hand.

The monk whispered, "Lean in closer, 'cause I can help you out."

She leaned in close and he whispered,"If you want to escape Roshi, punch him in the face really hard."

"B-But what if I knock him out?", asked 21.

"Don't worry, he'll get back up after a few minutes.",replied Krillin with a smirk.

21 sighed and said,"Okay..."

She punched Master Roshi directly in the nose, making him fall to the ground, unconscious.

Krillin yelled,"NOW LET'S HEAD TO CAPSULE CORP! QUICKLY! BEFORE HE WAKES UP!"

Mafin, Begu, and 21 all nodded in agreement, and the four of them blasted off the small island.

* * *

The group arrived at Capsule Corp, and Mafin quickly pressed the doorbell.

The door opened to reveal Bulma, who was startled by the group's sudden appearance.

She asked,"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

Mafin replied,"We were wondering if we could hang out here for a while..."

Bulma said,"Um, sure, come right in."

The group collectively sighed in relief, and followed her inside the lobby.

They walked inside, and Bulma saw Android 21 walking behind them.

Bulma asked,"Who's the new tall lady?"

Mafin quickly introduced 21 to the blue-haired scientist.

As 21 sat down on a nearby chair, the duo proceeded to explain to Bulma on how they met the android.

Bulma exclaimed,"WHAT?! So she has the combined energy of...EVERYONE?!"

Mafin and Begu collectively said,"Yeah..."

The blue-haired scientist sputtered out, "T-That's insane! So, that means she probably has the cells of...all of you guys!

Krillin exclaimed,"That's what I was thinking! What kind of nutcase would wanna use our cells to create an entirely new being?!"

Begu shrugged,"I told Mafin that it was probably just some crazy crackpot inventor who just did this strange experiment for kicks. I bet that he might not even be alive anymore."

"And the Red Ribbon Army _was_ dissolved years ago, thanks to Goku.", added Bulma.

Krillin asked,"So, what are we gonna do now? About 21, I mean."

Mafin spoke up,"I was thinking...she has everyone's combined ki, which means she might have our special abilities and attacks too. We could train her to fight and use that power for good! She could be an big help against any future threats!"

Krillin nodded in agreement,"That is true. If some villain that's even stronger than Frieza shows up, and if Goku or anyone else in our group can't stop them, then she definitely could be useful."

He exclaimed,"Hey, maybe she could join your training on the island!"

Begu grinned,"That sounds like a awesome idea! We won't have to suffer whatever's on there alone!"

"Wait a minute! What training?! What island?!", asked a deeply confused Bulma.

Krillin explained,"See, I plan on having the boys train on the old island that Goku and I once trained at. This is for that big test I was alluding to."

Bulma said,"Oh yeah, I remember you saying something about a test yesterday."

Mafin exclaimed,"Hey 21, could you come over here for a few seconds?"

21 nodded and walked over to the group.

She asked,"What is it?"

The Pesutorian took a deep breath and explained, "We were wondering if you would like to join our next training sessions. Since you essentially have all of our cells integrated into your DNA, we feel that you have the potential to be an excellent fighter on the battlefield."

Begu added,"Plus, there are many baddies out there in the universe that might be insanely strong, so...uh...yeah."

21 stood there silently for a minute, pondering her decision.

Both Mafin and Begu nervously thought,"Oh man! Hopefully we didn't make it too nerve-wracking!"

Eventually, 21 sighed deeply and said,"I'll think about it. I'll let you know once we reach the island."

"Speaking about the island, how are you guys even gonna get there?", asked Bulma.

Krillin happily replied,"We'll just simply fly over! Easy peasy!"

"Well, at least take a few of my capsules. Hold on, I'll be right back."

The scientist walked to the lab to get some capsules, and returned several minutes later.

She gave them to Krillin, who safely put them in his pocket.

Bulma then turned to the duo and smiled,"Well, good luck on the training sessions you guys! Be safe!"

Mafin happily said, "Thank you Bulma. I swear that we'll do our best!"

The Pesutorian proceeded to bow politely.

"Yeah! What he said!", exclaimed Begu with a grin.

* * *

The next morning, the group was all gathered at Kame House's porch.

Mafin and Begu wore their usual Turtle School uniforms, while Krillin wore a simple polo with jeans, and red sneakers.

He also carried a small green backpack, which contained the various capsules that Bulma gave him, as well as the two capsules that contained the duo's beds.

And 21...well, 21 was nowhere to be found.

Mafin looked around and asked Begu,"Hey, um, dude...have you seen-"

"I'm here!", called out 21 as she landed next to them.

She was wearing her usual outfit, and was carrying a spiral notebook, along with a mechanical pencil.

"Why did you bring a notebook with you?", inquired Mafin.

21 replied,"It's just so that I could keep a daily journal for myself."

"Ooh, ok.", said the Pesutorian.

Krillin spoke up,"Are you guys ready for this?"

The duo turned to face Krillin, and silently nodded with determination.

Mafin then asked,"Wait, what about everyone else on the Lookout?"

The monk replied with a smile,"Don't worry! During your trip yesterday, I informed everyone about the training. I also informed Roshi when I came back here. They all wish you the best of luck."

The duo smiled warmly upon hearing this.

Krillin looked up at the sky and exclaimed,"Alright! Let's head out!"

The group immediately blasted off the small island.


	18. Turtle School Training!

After an hour of flight, the group finally arrived, and they all landed on the island.

The duo stood patiently, awaiting their first lesson.

Krillin explained," Today, you will be performing a simple task: without using any sort of ki assistance, you'll have to find a small rock in the middle of this island. And not just any rock..."

Krillin picked up a small one nearby, and pulled out a random marker from his pocket.

The monk drew something on the rock, and he turned it around. It showed the "亀" symbol.

"...It's this one.", said Krillin.

Then, with an impressive amount of strength, he threw the rock all the way into the jungle.

Krillin continued, "You each have 30 minutes to find it. Whoever gets the rock first will have a glorious dinner. Whoever fails...cannot join us for dinner."

The duo's eyes widened in shock and fear.

" _NO DINNER?!_ ", they collectively thought.

Krillin exclaimed,"Well, what are you guys waiting for?! Go now!"

Mafin and Begu collectively yelped in suprise, and immediately ran off into the jungle.

21 asked with a worried tone of voice,"Krillin, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Krillin smirked,"I'm sure of it. I believe they can do this!"

The monk pulled out a capsule, clicked down on it, and threw the device a few feet away from where he and 21 were standing.

In a puff of smoke, a small circular house instantly appeared.

Krillin chuckled,"Perfect. Now let's just wait for them."

He then proceeded to gaze out at the ocean.

Unbeknownst to the monk, 21 began staring at him with a rather creepy smile on her face.

She thought, " _H-His power is amazing! I have to turn him into a chocolate bar...NOW! Yes, I'll just have to-"_

21 immediately stopped herself.

" _No...I can't. Why would I even **want** to do that? What is wrong with me?!"_

Krillin noticed 21's uncomfortable expression, and asked, "Uh, 21? Are you okay?"

Snapping back to reality, 21 exclaimed, "Oh! I-I'm okay! Don't worry about me!"

She awkwardly laughed and scratched the back of her head.

"Uh...alright then...", said a confused Krillin.

He then exclaimed, "Oh shoot! I almost forgot!"

21 asked, "What is it?"

The monk replied, "I gotta head into town for a bit. An old acquaintance of Master Roshi lives there, so I was going to ask him if he needs a milk delivery for tomorrow!"

Krillin began running off and he yelled out, "Don't worry, I won't take long! I'll be right back!"

21 nodded in response.

He then quickly flew into the island's town-like area.

21 sighed deeply and thought, " _I have to find some way to control this strange hunger urge..."_

* * *

Meanwhile, in the jungle, the duo rapidly ran as fast as possible.

Begu let out a mischievous chuckle, much to Mafin's confusion.

Mafin asked,"Why are you chuckling?"

The Octorian replied,"Whoever finds the rock will get to have dinner, right? So I'm gonna find it first! AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME BABY!"

He laughed as he ran off into a different direction.

Mafin growled,"BEGU!"

Over the course of ten minutes, Mafin desperately searched for the rock.

He climbed various trees, looked under several massive boulders, looked through many bushes and dug through many piles of dead leaves.

Unfortunately, trouble soon began following the Pesutorian.

After stepping on a jaguar's tail, the predatory beast woke up and growled at Mafin.

Mafin thought," _I don't have time to fight, I gotta find the rock! Fast! Before Begu gets his hands on it!"_

As Mafin ran for his life, he leaped over a random velociraptor, who saw the orange alien and immediately chased him too.

Mafin sensed the raptor and thought," _AW CRAP! ANOTHER DINOSAUR!"_

Meanwhile, Begu had a far easier trip.

He simply ran past various bugs, and hopped over a fallen tree branch.

The Octorian looked around for a bit, then his eyes widened in surprise.

He saw that the rock had landed near a massive yellow panther, who was currently asleep.

" _AW CRAP! ANOTHER WILD FELINE!_ ", thought Begu as he gulped nervously.

He muttered, "S-Sorry Krillin...but I'm gonna have to cheat."

In order to avoid waking the panther up, he flew over to where the rock was.

Begu carefully picked up the rock, and quickly flew off.

Afterwards, he landed on the ground several feet away, and ran away once more.

" _Phew! That was close! Now to head back to Krillin!_ ", thought the Octorian with a smirk.

* * *

Thirty minutes eventually passed.

Krillin and Android 21 saw Begu arrive with the rock in his hand.

The monk said ,"Well, that must have been easy!"

Begu laughed,"Yeah it was! And I **_totally_** didn't cheat at all!"

Just then, Mafin arrived back as well, albeit in a pretty bad state.

He had scratch marks all over his body, his gi was severely ripped up, and he was panting heavily.

Mafin glared daggers at Begu.

"I hate you sometimes...", hissed the Pesutorian.

Begu merely rolled his eyes in response.

21 walked over to Mafin and asked,"Are you okay?"

Krillin (who also walked over) added,"Yeah, you look pretty beat up."

Mafin rubbed his forehead and sighed,"I'll be alright. Is there a bathroom in that house?"

Both 21 and Krillin quietly nodded, and Mafin said,"I'm going to go take a shower..."

He walked over to the house and went inside.

* * *

It was now the early evening, and (with the exception of Mafin) , the group happily feasted on a massive dinner, which actually came from one of the capsules.

"Whoo! This is SO GOOD!", exclaimed Begu as he ate a dumpling.

Krillin chuckled as he ate some potstickers,"I agree! What do you think, 21?"

21 did not reply, as she was busy gorging down on various foods at the table, such as a bowl of ramen, a rack of ribs, several pork buns, and a bowl of potato salad.

Begu and Krillin looked on with wide eyes.

" _She definetely has Saiyan cells alright..._ ", they collectively thought.

Mafin sat on a nearby couch as he watched this odd spectacle unfold.

At that moment, he felt his stomach growl.

The Pesutorian sighed deeply.

He spoke up,"If anyone needs me, I'll be outside."

Begu and Krillin nodded as they continued to stare in awe at 21's "chow fest".

Upon noticing Mafin leaving the room, 21 stopped eating and slightly frowned.

She asked, "Where is he going?"

Begu replied, "Oh, he's just heading outside for a bit."

21 nodded and thought, " _Poor guy. He's out there starving, while I'm in here, eating away at all of...this. I **have** to do something good for him in return."_

* * *

Meanwhile, Mafin sighed as he laid down on the sand.

He looked up at the starry night sky, taking in all of the scenery.

Several seconds later, he sensed a familiar ki signature nearby.

Mafin sat up, and saw 21 walking towards him.

He noticed that her right eye was twitching, and she was taking deep breaths.

The Pesutorian simply thought that she was desperately trying to think of what to say to him.

"Hi.", said the android as she sat down next to Mafin.

Mafin said,"Hello."

The two of them sat in awkward silence for a few more minutes, before both spoke up simultaneously.

"21, I wanted-"

"Mafin, I have-"

They both nervously exclaimed,"Oh! I'm sorry!"

"Do you want to go first?", asked the android.

"Um, sure.", replied the Pesutorian.

He took a deep breath and said,"21, I wanted to apologize if that offer from yesterday seemed a little overwhelming. You don't have to train if you don't want to."

21 said,"Actually, I thought about it during the flight over here today, and I...can't accept the offer. I just don't have any interest in fighting as of right now."

Mafin nodded, "I understand. I'll make sure to let the others know."

21 then smiled, "I also brought you this."

She pulled out something from her pocket, and gave it to Mafin.

It was neatly wrapped up in a napkin.

The Pesutorian opened it up, and saw a dumpling.

Mafin's eyes widened in shock, "How did you-?!"

"I snuck it in my pocket when Krillin and Begu weren't looking.", replied 21, "I felt really bad for you, and I wanted to do something nice. And besides, they're actually about to turn in now."

Mafin smiled warmly and said, "Thank you, 21!"

He then happily gorged down on the dumpling.

When he finished, he heard 21 laugh softly to herself.

"Y-Yeah...I'm kind of a big eater too.", said Mafin as he blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"I can see that!", exclaimed 21.

The two of them laughed in unison, and looked up at the night sky.

21 smiled,"It's beautiful out tonight."

Mafin said,"It really is."

He stated, "To be honest, I actually never got to take in a night like this, especially during the Frieza Force days. Heck, Begu and I didn't even get to celebrate our 19th birthday during that time, since we were traveling from planet to planet so much."

"Wait, you and Begu share a birthday?", asked a now curious 21.

"Oh yes! We were both born on the same day, which on this planet is known as Feburary 2nd! It's a really funny coincidence!"

21 thought," _Interesting..."_

She asked, "Do the others know?"

Mafin's eyes widened, "Now that you mentioned it...no, no they don't."

21 said,"Well, I'll make sure to inform Krillin at least."

Mafin grinned and said,"Thanks!"

He then asked, "Hey, um, 21?"

"Hm?", inquired the android.

"When Begu and I have our breaks in between our sessions...do you want to hang out for a bit? With the both of us, I mean?"

"Sure! I would really like to get to know you guys more.", replied 21, who smiled softly.

"Thank you. And same here!", said Mafin, who also smiled.

* * *

It was early in the morning, and Begu was sleeping soundly in his bed when all of a sudden, he heard Krillin shout, "Wake up! It's training time Begu!"

Begu groaned, "It's 4:30 am, Krillin. Can't we just wait a couple more hours?"

"No, we can't. We're doing this the Turtle School way. Now are you gonna complain about it, or are you gonna get up and train?", said Krillin with a frown.

Begu grumbled, "Fine...", and got up out of his bed.

He saw that Mafin's bed was completely empty, much to his confusion.

"Hey Krillin, have you seen Mafin around?", asked Begu.

The monk replied, "No, I haven't. He never came back in last night."

Begu said, "And come to think of it, I haven't seen 21 since **she** stepped out last night to check on him."

Krillin nodded and said, "Let's go see how they're doing."

The two of them went outside to see Mafin and 21 sleeping soundly together.

Begu looked at Krillin, snickering, "Looks like my bro got comfy with 21..."

Krillin smirked, "He sure did."

The monk walked over to the orange alien.

In order to avoid waking 21 up, he lightly tapped Mafin's arm and whispered, "Hey! Mafin! Wake up! It's time to train!"

The Pesutorian slowly opened his eyes and saw the monk in front of him.

Mafin stammered, "K-Krillin?!"

Krillin exclaimed, "It's time to train! So get up!"

Mafin sighed and stood up.

He, Begu, and Krillin began jogging across the beach, and all the way towards a small town.

Eventually, they stopped at a humanoid cow's house.

The humanoid cow cheerfully waved at Krillin, who happily waved back.

He then reminded the cow of the delivery that was promised the day prior.

The cow nodded in response, and gave several crates of milk to the duo.

The boys each let out tired groans as they began delivering milk to each and every person in the town.

* * *

Over the next four months, the duo continued their training sessions.

In addition to basic sparring tests, Krillin also had them try out some construction work, perform a running test (as well as a swimming test), and even push a **_massive_ **boulder.

For the first session, the duo carried the old weighted turtle shells on their backs, which were also safely brought to the island in the form of two capsules. Krillin secretly thanked Bulma for that.

As the duo went on their usual training breaks, both them and 21 began hanging out.

Subsequently, the android got to learn about them a bit more.

One time, Mafin explained to her about the Heating Hands of Pesutori.

It turns out that his race's powerful technique is also one that is passed down from generation to generation, but it is only passed down to those who are pure of heart.

21 was amazed by this newfound fact about her friend's species, and wrote it down in her notebook.

Wanting to add in some 'cool' facts of his own race, Begu explained to 21 that he is actually the shortest Octorian, and everyone else is of an average height; the buildings on Octoria are tall, metallic, and can float in the air; the males gain more spots on their bodies as they grow older, and the females can spew out a single offspring from just their heads alone.

To his suprise, rather than laugh at these (in his opinion) pathetic little facts, 21 was **_also_** fascinated by them! She wrote these new facts down next to Mafin's.

* * *

Eventually, when they asked the android what was it like being human, she frowned,

"I...honestly do not recall what I was like when I was human. I don't even remember my real name. All I know is that I am Android 21."

Mafin sadly said, "I'm really sorry, 21..."

Begu added, "Yeah, you don't even remember who you really are? That's awful..."

21 shook her head and smiled, "It's alright. I hope that, after all of this, I'll be able to investigate into this matter. Perhaps I can find some answers in that old laboratory."

Mafin said with determination, "Well, when that moment arrives in which you DO find answers, I promise that we'll be right there with you."

Begu grinned, "Yeah dude!"

21 smiled warmly and said, "Thank you both so much."

The android bowed politely at the duo, and the three of them continued chatting.

* * *

During the occasions in which she was left to her own devices, 21 also wrote in her journal about the various times her "urges" would occur.

Some days she successfully restrained herself by quietly meditating.

Other days, she nearly almost gave in to her "hunger", and only managed to calm herself down by taking faster breaths.

Throughout all of that time, she still had no idea why she was acting like this!

This "hunger state" felt like a ferocious beast, ready to snap at any moment, and she hated every single minute of it!

21 hoped that she eventually could contact Bulma for help.


	19. The Training is Complete!

**Age 764**

It was now the end of January, and the duo were ready to leave the island.

They had just finished a sparring session while wearing the massive turtle shells.

Krillin said,"You can officially remove the shells now."

The duo sighed in relief as they proceeded to do so.

"Now, jump upwards."

Both men nodded, and jumped extremely high into the air.

Begu stammered,"W-Whoa! I feel so much lighter!"

Mafin exclaimed,"Yeah! It's like my entire body has turned into a fluffy cloud!"

They both landed on their feet, amazed at their new state.

Krillin smiled,"Gentlemen, you have passed my ultimate test. You are now official Turtle School students."

Mafin and Begu excitedly shouted,"WE DID IT!"

The duo hugged one another, pleased that they were finally done with their training sessions.

21 exclaimed, "Yes! I'm so happy for you both!"

She hugged both Mafin and Begu tightly, and they hugged her back as well.

Krillin chuckled and said, "Alright guys, now let's head out!"

The four of them blasted off the island, and flew across the ocean.

* * *

21 asked the others, "Hey, um, guys, I was wondering...is it alright if we see Bulma again? I kind of wanted to ask her something."

Krillin nodded, "Sure, I'm sure she won't mind. What did you want to ask?"

21 nervously replied, "O-Oh, uh...I was wondering if...she had a new...bed I could borrow!"

She let out an awkward laugh, and nervously looked away.

Krillin looked at the duo, who merely shrugged in confusion.

21 thought, " _I have to let Bulma know about my condition..."_

So, the four of them flew all the way to the city, where they landed at Capsule Corp.

* * *

Mafin rang the doorbell, and the door opened to reveal Bulma.

She now had her hair tied up in a ponytail, and wore a labcoat over a purple shirt and jeans.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of Mafin and Begu.

Bulma exclaimed, "Hi guys! How's it going?"

The duo happily replied, "We're doing good!"

Krillin stated proudly, "After four months of training, these two are now true Turtle School students."

Bulma grinned, "Awesome! Great job guys!"

21 spoke up, "Um, excuse me? Bulma?"

The scientist saw the android and said, "Oh, hey Android 21!"

21 asked, "I was wondering...is it okay if I speak with you in private?"

Mildly confused by this sudden question, Bulma said, "Um...sure."

The two women walked inside, leaving the trio visibly perplexed.

"Huh. I wonder what's so important that they need to discuss?", wondered aloud Mafin as he scratched the back of his head.

Begu shrugged, "Maybe it's the bed thing? I dunno."

Krillin sighed, "Whatever it is, I'm sure its not important to us. Let's just wait in the lobby."

The duo nodded in response, and the small group went inside the building.

* * *

21 and Bulma walked towards one of the Capaule Corp. labs, which was thankfully not being used at the moment.

As they went in, Bulma asked, "So, what's up 21? Do you wanna talk to me about something?"

She playfully smirked, "Is it revolving around dudes?"

21's eyes widened in shock, "What?! No!"

The scientist chuckled, "Relax, I'm messing with you."

"O-Oh, right. Of course. I knew that.", lied 21 as she blushed in embarrassment.

Bulma then asked, "Now what's this _really_ about?"

21 began explaining her strange condition, her methods of dealing with the issue, and the general pain she endured over the past four months.

Bulma shouted, "THAT'S CRAZY!"

21 pleaded, "Please quiet down."

"Sorry. But still, that _**is**_ crazy!"

21 nodded, "I agree. Which is why I was hoping that you could help me with this situation."

Bulma sighed, "Alright, let me see what I can do."

The scientist walked over to a nearby white drawer, and pulled out a box of rubber gloves as well as a small syringe.

Bulma put on the gloves and said, "I'm gonna need a sample of your blood. If you have blood, that is."

21 removed her lab coat and took off her right arm stocking, "I do. I am a bio-android, after all."

Bulma nodded, "Good. Now hold out your arm."

21 held it out, and the scientist injected the syringe in.

Once Bulma got a decent amount of blood, she removed the syringe, and placed a bandage over the small mark. 21 quickly put her lab coat and her stocking back on afterwards.

Bulma walked to a nearby microscope (which was standing on a large desk), ejected a small droplet of 21's blood on the slide, and placed a coverslip over it.

She grabbed a random chair, sat down in front of the microscope, and muttered, "Let's see what we got here..."

The blue-haired scientist examined the sample for a few minutes, then blurted out, "The heck?!"

21 rushed over and asked, "What's wrong?"

Bulma thought, " _Wh-What on earth are these cells?! They're so chaotic!"_

Bulma turned to the android, "I'm sorry 21, but I don't think I have the materials availble to treat your cells! They're far too unstable!"

21 fearfully asked, "Oh no! What do we do?!"

Bulma thought about it, then replied, "Well, I have this one friend from space. I think he might be able to help out."

She went over to the lab's telephone, and began dialing up a certain number...

* * *

Deep within space, Jaco the Galactic Patrolman flew his ship towards a distant planet.

He had a big, blue towel draped over his shoulders, and wore a brown sunhat.

Jaco excitedly thought, " _Finally! Sun and relaxation, here I come!"_

Suddenly, the patrolman heard his flip phone ringing.

He grabbed it and opened it up to see that Bulma was calling him.

" _Oh, great! What **now**_ _?!",_ he thought.

Jaco sighed as he pressed the call button, "Hello Bulma..."

Bulma exclaimed, "Hey Jaco! Look, do you mind doing me a favor?"

Jaco asked, "What is it?"

"Do you know any specific planet that carries ingredients for medicine? And not just any normal medicine, but a type of medicine which can stabilize **_very_** unstable cells?"

Jaco replied, "Um...yeah. Why do you ask?"

Bulma nervously bit her lip and began, "Well..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Mafin, Begu, and Krillin were all still waiting in the lobby.

Begu spoke up, "So, y'all wanna play some charades to pass the time?"

Before the other two could respond, they saw 21 walking towards them, with a capsule in hand.

Mafin happily said, "21! You're back!"

Krillin inquired, "Are you alright? How'd the discussion go?"

Begu added, "And did you actually get a bed capsule?"

21 smiled, "I'm okay. The discussion went well."

She looked at Begu, "And yes, Begu, I did. Bulma actually gave me a queen sized bed."

The Octorian chuckled, "Sweet!"

Mafin asked, "So, does Bulma want to speak with us, or-"

"She's, er, busy at the moment." replied 21.

Krillin said, "Then let's just head back to Kame House."

The group collectively nodded and walked out of Capsule Corp.

Begu stretched his arms out and sighed, "Aah! Can't wait to relax!"

Mafin smiled, "Begu, since today is Friday, do you want to have another movie night? We haven't done those in forever."

Begu's eyes widened, "DUDE. HECK YES."

Krillin and 21 looked at one another with confused expressions.

The monk turned to the duo and asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

Mafin explained, "When Begu and I were 13, we used to have movie night events on Fridays."

Begu smirked, "We saw a TON of movies in those days."

Krillin chuckled, "Well, okay! I think I have a few DVDs somewhere in Master Roshi's closet."

Begu shivered with fear, "I hope they're not part of the old man's 'private' section!"

Krillin said, "Don't worry, they're not. They're DVDs that I personally own."

Mafin turned to 21 and asked, "Want to join us for movie night?"

21 happily replied, "Sure!"

She put her hand over her heart and thought, " _I just hope Bulma and this Jaco person can make some medicine soon..."_

The group immediately blasted away from Capsule Corp, and proceeded to fly out of the city.


	20. Mafin and Begu's Birthday!

Two days had passed since the duo finished their training, and it was now Febuary 2nd.

Mafin was sleeping soundly in his bed, when all of a sudden, he felt several taps on his shoulder.

He groaned and slowly opened his eyes to see Begu standing near him with a party hat.

"IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY, DUDE! WE'RE NOW 20 YEARS OLD!", Begu happily shouted.

Mafin laughed,"Awesome! Happy birthday man!"

Begu grinned and said,"Same to you, bro! Now, get up! Everyone's already at Capsule Corp!"

Mafin nodded and ran to the bathroom to wash up.

He finished a few minutes later, and quickly put on a blue T-shirt, followed by a pair of khakis and some black dress shoes.

The Pesutorian saw Begu (who was wearing a simple gray hoodie, jeans, and red sneakers) standing near the door.

Begu asked,"Are you ready to head out, Mafin?"

Mafin grinned and replied,"Yep!"

They walked out the door, and blasted off the small island.

They arrived at Capsule Corp. and went inside the lobby.

Mafin asked the receptionist where they could find Bulma Briefs, and she replied,"She's currently located in the Atrium. Just go down the hall and you'll it find it there."

Mafin happily said,"Thank you!"

The Pesutorian politely bowed at the receptionist.

Both he and Begu proceeded to walk down the hall.

Once the duo arrived at the Atrium, they saw a giant yellow banner that read " **HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY MAFIN AND BEGU!** "

They heard the pop song, "Happy Birthday" by KUKO playing in the background.

They also saw Bulma nearby chatting with Krillin and Android 21.

In terms of appearance, Bulma was wearing a blue tube top with jeans, Krillin wore a green polo with sweats, and 21 wore a pink v-neck with white shorts.

Begu shouted,"HEY GUYS!"

The three of them turned around and Bulma exclaimed,"Mafin! Begu! You made it!"

They all ran up to the duo and Bulma affectionately embraced the both of them.

She released Mafin and Begu, and said,"Happy Birthday!"

The duo collectively said,"Thanks Bulma!"

Krillin high-fived both men, saying,"Congratulations on becoming 20 year olds!"

Begu chuckled,"Thanks! I feel like a new man!"

Mafin smirked,"Yeah, but you're still a shortie."

This playful jab prompted Begu to cast a death glare at Mafin.

Just then, 21 warmly embraced the duo, and they embraced her as well.

"Happy Birthday guys!", she happily said.

21 released the duo and she said,"I brought a card! It's for the both of you!"

She pulled out the card from her back pocket, and gave it to Mafin.

The front of the card had a scientist (who interestingly resembled Arale Norimaki from _Dr. Slump_ ) holding a test tube in one hand, and a pink birthday cake in another.

On the inside, it read," **Hope your birthday is RELATIVELY AWESOME!"**

Near the bottom was a signature that read, " _From your friend, Android 21!"_

Mafin smiled warmly, "D'aww! This is a really great gift! Thank you so much 21."

Begu muttered,"Looks kinda silly if you ask-"

He was quickly silenced with a glare from Mafin.

21 grinned and said,"I'm so happy you guys love it!"

Mafin then said,"We're going to walk around for a bit. Bye 21! Bye you guys!"

Krillin, Bulma and 21 collectively exclaimed, "Take care you two!"

Afterwards Mafin and Begu walked around the Atrium, trying to see if anyone else showed up.

They ran into the other Z-Fighters, Master Roshi, and Gohan.

The group greeted the duo, and gave them a bunch of gifts, such as several martial artist books, a book on wildlife creatures, and...a baseball bat.

As Yamcha placed everything into a single capsule, Begu asked,"Where'd you get the money to buy all of this?"

Master Roshi responded,"Well, it was actually all of Yamcha's money that he received a year ago."

Yamcha sighed,"It wasn't **_all_** of it. It was just the money I received as a baseball player..."

Tien spoke up,"By the way, before you guys came here, Krillin told us about Android 21..."

Mafin happily said,"She's a really nice person once you get to know her."

The three eyed warrior nodded and said, "To be honest, I'm still amazed that she has all of our DNA in her cells."

Begu added, "Yeah, but at least she's on our side!"

"Of course."

Yamcha grinned and said ,"Well dudes, we're about meet up with Bulma over at the catering table."

Mafin smiled, "Okay! See you guys! It was nice talking with you again!"

He bowed at the Z-Fighters who collectively bowed back.

After they left, Begu asked Mafin,"Do you know how many more people will show up?"

The Pesutorian replied, "No. Do you?"

"Nah.", said Begu.

"Hey dudes!", said a certain voice.

Mafin and Begu turned around and saw Yajirobe wave at them.

"HEEYY! YAJIROBE!", exclaimed the duo.

They each bro-fisted the pudgy samurai.

He asked,"How have you guys been? I haven't gotten to chat with you in a while!"

Begu replied,"We're doing good! We went on a four month training session with Krillin!"

Yajirobe's eyes widened and he exclaimed,"Whoa! Where'd you guys go?!"

Mafin replied, "We went to the old island that Krillin and Goku trained at once."

"Huh. That's pretty cool...", said the samurai.

Begu grinned and said,"It was! We learned all sorts of new stuff there!"

"Although, some of those training sessions were very, very difficult to get through, like that milk delivery session." said Mafin with a sigh.

Begu groaned, "I kinda hated that one. I also hated the construction site session."

Mafin shivered upon recalling that memory,"I had to wash my hands SO many times after that!"

Yajirobe chuckled,"Sounds like you guys have gone through a lot."

"NO! Ya **_think_**?!", said Begu with a hint of sarcasm.

Suddenly, the three of them heard a portal open, and they saw Kappukeki appear.

"Hey-o my peeps!", said the futuristic heroine.

Mafin and Begu exclaimed,"KAPPUKEKI!"

They embraced Kappukeki, who gladly embraced them back.

Yajirobe asked,"Who's this?"

The heroine happily exclaimed,"I'm Kappukeki! Space traveler extraordinaire!"

Yajirobe assumed this random woman must have been one of the duo's old space friends, so he just shrugged and thought, " _That's cool."_

He let out a big yawn and said, "Alright, I'mma go grab a bite to eat over at the catering table."

The samurai walked off, leaving the duo to continue their conversation with the futuristic heroine.

Kappukeki asked, "So, how have you guys been?"

Begu chuckled, "We're good. Just been through a lot these past four months."

Mafin sighed,"It's a long story..."

Kappukeki grinned,"Oh, it's alright. You don't have to explain. I already know."

She explained, "Remember, everything that is happening now, already happened in my time."

She quickly backpedaled on that answer, "W-Well, except for me meeting you guys. And...you meeting Android 21."

Mafin said, "Oh, that's pretty coo—Wait, what did you say about 21?"

Kappukeki elaborated,"See, the 21 you know now is actually from Age 779. I just pulled her out of _that_ year, and placed her in _this_ year!"

Mafin and Begu stammered in disbelief, and Begu asked,"Wouldn't that, like, screw up the timeline, or something?!"

Kappukeki smirked, "Nope, 'cause of Multiverse Theory, baby! Whatever happens in this altered timeline _won't_ affect my timeline, and the same rule applies to the timeline I pulled 21 out of!"

She then said, "Heh, now that I think about it, I kinda take back that whole 'everything already happened' bit. **_Certain_** events have already happened, but in a slightly different manner."

The duo rapidly sweated in confusion, and Begu stated,"My head hurts now. And this is coming from someone who LOVES time travel stories!"

Mafin sighed,"Okay...but why 21? Why is she so important?"

Kappukeki replied,"Well, I'd just thought it be cool if she joined this timeline. Since the 21 in my future becomes an incredibly powerful fighter, it makes things a whole lot easier for you guys."

Mafin winced and said,"Yeah...about that. Right now, 21 isn't interested in fighting."

Kappukeki's eyes widened in surprise,"Wait, really?!"

The duo nodded in response.

The heroine thought, " _Well, crap. I was sure that she would be interested right away!"_

She shrugged,"Eh, oh well. At least this current 21 is on the side of good, and not evil."

Mafin nodded,"I absolutely agree."

"Hey guys!", called out Bulma, "Come over to the catering table! I made you a bunch of cupcakes!"

The duo exclaimed,"Coming!"

Before he and Begu left, they turned back to Kappukeki.

The heroine excitedly grinned,"Oh don't worry! This time, I'm definitely joining in!"

Mafin and Begu happily nodded, and the three of them flew over to where Bulma was.

She was joined by Krillin, 21, Gohan, Roshi, Yajirobe, and the rest of the Z-Fighters.

They were all sitting in various seats. Some were either chatting about random stuff, or reminiscing on old memories.

The duo introduced Bulma to Kappukeki, who was internally geeking out at the sight of seeing a younger version of the scientist.

All of a sudden, the group heard a strange teleportation noise.

They all turned around...and they saw Goku standing several feet away.

"Hey! How's it going everyone?", asked the Saiyan.

* * *

 **Hey readers, Story Nado here!**

 **Wow. One Year.**

 **This fic has reached 20 chapters in one year.**

 **That's crazy...and awesome!**

 **Because of that, I just wanted to take the time out to say thank you!**

 **Thank you all so much for reading and following this story so far!**

 **It really means a lot to me.**

 **So, I'll see you guys in the next chapter! Take care!**


	21. Reunions and New Revelations

Krillin stammered in disbelief, "G-Goku? You came back?!"

The Saiyan martial artist grinned,"Yep!"

As happy tears formed in his eyes, Krillin dashed over to Goku, and hugged his best friend tightly.

"HAHAHA! YOU MADE IT BACK HOME!", the monk excitedly shouted, "For a second I thought we would never see you again!"

Goku laughed,"Yeah, sorry about that!"

The Saiyan saw Gohan run up to him, and he smiled warmly upon seeing the young boy hug him as well.

"Hey Gohan!", said Goku as he ruffled his son's hair.

"Dad!", exclaimed Gohan, "You're back! I can't believe it!"

"Thanks Gohan. It's good to be back.", responded Goku with a smile.

Gohan and Krillin led the Saiyan warrior over to the table.

He looked around, confused with all of the party decorations.

"Um, what's going on?", he asked.

At that moment, Krillin pointed at the duo and explained, "Goku, this is Mafin and Begu. They're former Frieza Force lackeys and-"

The Saiyan exclaimed,"Whoa! No way! They worked for the Frieza Force?!"

"Y-Yeah. It's a long story.", said Krillin with a sigh, "To put it simply, they've reformed and they've been living here for the past five months. Right now, we're currently celebrating their shared birthday."

"Oooh, ok!", said Goku with a nod, "Well that's pretty cool!"

The martial artist cheerfully waved at the duo and said,"Nice to meet you two! Sorry if I interrupted anything."

The duo, who were completely starstruck by his presence, quietly walked over to him.

They could only stammer out,"I-It's o-ok..."

Mafin cleared his throat and calmly said,"Goku...thanks to Bulma, we are aware of your defeat of Frieza, and we just wanted to say..."

He and Begu dropped to their knees and shouted, **"** ** _THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH!"_**

Goku, confused by their sudden actions, awkwardly chuckled,"Uh...you're welcome?"

He turned to Krillin and asked,"Did Frieza do something to them?"

The monk explained,"Yeah. These two have been through a whole lot. They _were_ Frieza Force soldiers after all."

"That makes sense.", said Goku.

He looked down and saw that the duo were still on their knees,

"Um, you guys can get up now."

Mafin and Begu collectively blurted out,"Oh! Right! Sorry Goku!"

They quickly got up and walked back to their seats.

Goku saw 21 sitting near the duo.

He called out, "Hey! Are you new here too?"

21 nodded, "Yes. I am Android 21."

Goku happily said,"Nice to meet you 21! I'm Son Goku!"

The android smiled,"It's a pleasure to meet you."

Bulma pulled up a chair and said,"Come sit with us! We wanna catch up with you!"

He nodded and quietly sat down.

Krillin asked, "So, uh, how'd you escape Namek?"

Goku gained a serious expression on his face, and began recounting his escape.

* * *

"Wow!", exclaimed Krillin, "So you learned a new technique, AND you used it to come back here?!"

Goku nodded,"Yeah."

The Saiyan's eyes then widened in shock upon realizing something.

Goku quickly stood up and exclaimed, "Sorry guys, but I gotta head back home! I gotta see how Chi-Chi's doing!"

He turned to his son, "Gohan, grab my hand!"

Gohan blurted out,"U-Um, ok!"

Gohan grabbed onto his father's hand tightly.

Goku was about to teleport away, but then felt something hard underneath his foot.

He moved his foot away, and saw a capsule underneath.

Goku asked,"What's this little capsule doing here?"

Gohan looked at it closely, and he exclaimed,"That's the capsule that Mafin and Begu's gifts are in!"

Goku's eyes widened, "Wait, really?!"

Gohan nodded in response, "I guess it must have rolled all the way over here."

Goku picked it up and yelled out to the duo, "Hey! You guys forgot this!"

He threw it over to Begu, who quickly caught it, and Mafin happily said,"Thank you so much Goku!"

Goku smiled and proceeded to put two fingers to his forehead.

He and Gohan instantly teleported away.

* * *

As the party resumed, Android 21 tapped Bulma on the shoulder and whispered, "Can I talk to you for a minute? In private? Again?"

Bulma said,"Sure."

The two women got up and walked to another part of the Atrium, far away from the group.

Bulma asked, "What is it?"

21 nervously asked, "Um...h-how long will the stabilization last? I kind of forgot."

Bulma sighed and replied,"Like I said before, it'll only be for 24 hours. Your cells are very unstable, and it was tricky trying to make some medicine that could at least stabilize them for a while."

21 asked,"Could you make another batch? I mean, if you're not too busy..."

Bulma smiled,"Sure! Anything to help you out! I'll let you know when the next batch is ready."

21 sighed with relief, "Thank you so much Bulma..."

She then bowed politely, prompting the scientist to think, " _Jeez, I think Mafin's really rubbing off on her."_

* * *

Back at the table, Mafin and Begu looked over at Kappukeki, and she asked,"What is it?"

Mafin nervously whispered,"What...did you mean by 'certain events' ?"

Kappukkeki replied,"When I said 'certain events', I meant 'certain events' for the both of you ON EARTH."

She explained, "For instance, in my timeline, you don't encounter 21 until Age 779, and things get **really** crazy around that time."

Begu asked, "How the heck do you even know about that?

Kappukeki smirked, "I learned about it from 21 herself. Future 21, I mean."

Mafin and Begu exclaimed,"Oooh! Now that makes sense!"

The future heroine stretched her arms and said, "Alright, I better head back now."

She got up out of her seat, and was about to pull out her blaster.

However, she immediately stopped, and looked back at the duo.

"Is there anything else you want to know? About the future I mean. Since, y'know...the Multiverse Theory is still in effect."

Mafin and Begu quietly thought to themselves for a bit.

They nodded at one another, and turned to Kappukeki.

Mafin declared, "No. We decided that we want to figure out the future...for ourselves."

Kappukeki nodded and smiled, "Well, I guess I'll see you dudes at the next birthday celebration. Later!"

Mafin and Begu exclaimed, "See ya Kappukeki!"

The heroine chuckled and she opened a purple portal.

The duo waved at her, and Kappukeki waved back.

She walked in the portal, and it quickly closed up afterwards.

* * *

Several hours had passed, and it was now the late evening.

Everyone began leaving the Atrium, and Mafin, Begu as well as 21 sighed with satisfaction.

Mafin smiled, "That was a nice party."

Begu chuckled while rubbing his eye, "Yeah, it was!"

21 smiled,"I'm glad you guys had fun."

She then winced in pain, and thought, " _Oh no...it's coming back, and it's even worse now! I...I need to give Bulma time to work on the medicine. I'll have to take deep breaths!"_

They heard a yawn, and the trio turned around to see Krillin walking towards them.

He had a rather tired expression on his face.

Krillin asked,"You guys ready to head on out?"

The duo nodded in response, and 21 quickly nodded, while also taking deep breaths.

The small group said goodbye to Bulma and everyone else, and walked out of Capsule Corp.

Afterwards, the group flew out of the city, and all the way back to Kame House.

* * *

Krillin stretched his arms out and said, "Can't wait to lie down and rest. Am I right, guys?"

Mafin and Begu happily nodded in agreement. The two heroes were pretty tired as well.

Suddenly, they all heard very heavy breathing.

The trio turned around, and saw 21 standing directly behind them.

Her right eye was twitching, and she sported a very unsettling grin...

Krillin nervously asked,"Um...21? A-Are you feeling okay?"

Just then, 21 let out a blood curdling scream of insanity.

She shouted, " ** _I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I MUST FEED!"_**

The android pointed her index finger at Krillin, and began charging a pink ki attack.

Severely confused and frightened by this, Krillin got into a fighting stance.

But before he could attack, Mafin and Begu jumped in front of him.

Begu quickly kicked 21's attack away, and it exploded in mid air.

"21, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you have to calm down! Now!", exclaimed Mafin.

Begu agreed, "Please 21! Listen to Mafin!"

The android growled and shouted,"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

She unleashed a massive kiai attack, which sent both men flying back a few feet.

Krillin ran over to the duo and helped them get back up.

"You guys okay?", asked the monk.

Mafin replied, "Yeah, we're fine, but I don't think 21 is herself at the moment."

"Do you mean she's being mind controlled?",asked Begu.

I don't know, but what I DO know is that she normally wouldn't act like this. She's usually so quiet, calm and kind whenever I...um...we see her."

Krillin sighed,"Well, hopefully we can help her snap out of it."

Just then, they heard 21 madly giggle with excitement.

"After I devour the bald one, I'll eat the two of you next!", stated a deeply insane 21.

"Devour? What the heck does that mean?", questioned Begu.

"It's just another sign of her insanity!, exclaimed Mafin, "I have an idea to calm her down! Just follow my lead you guys!"

Begu smirked ,"Heh, where'd this courageous leader come from?"

The orange hero charged towards the android, who grinned maliciously.

Mafin thought ," _I'm really sorry for this 21!"_

He jabbed the android several times in the stomach, which unfortunately had no effect on her.

She chuckled, as she grabbed the Pesutorian by the shoulders and held him up.

"D'aww! Poor little Mafin!", mocked 21, "Are you trying to stop me?"

Mafin growled,"Yes we are!"

He headbutted her in the face, which briefly made 21 stumble back.

He fell to the ground and shouted, "Guys! Hold her down by the arms!"

Begu exclaimed,"What?! Why?!"

"Just do it!"

The two heroes ran over and grabbed 21 by her arms, causing her to shout,"GET OFF ME!"

Mafin flew up in the air and shouted,"KRILLIN! I'M BORROWING ONE OF YOUR MOVES! NOW CLOSE YOUR EYES! BOTH OF YOU!"

The latter two heroes, realizing what he was about to do, nodded and shut their eyes tight.

Mafin placed his hands close to the center of his face, and spread his fingers out near his eyes.

He shouted, " **SOLAR FLARE!"**

A bright flash of light emerged from Mafin, and 21 screamed with pain as she collapsed to her knees. Mafin flew down to face the android.

Begu nervously thought," _Oh man, what's he gonna do?"_

The Pesutorian quickly pulled 21 into a tight embrace, much to the shock of Krillin and Begu.

Mafin softly said, "21...please calm down. This isn't you at all."

Android 21 continued to growl wildly, and tried prying the orange alien off her, to no avail.

Eventually, after a few minutes, the android regained her sanity.

She stared down at Mafin, who was still hugging her.

21 exclaimed, "M-Mafin! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?!"

Mafin sighed with relief and said,"No, you didn't."

She then returned the embrace, and the two held one another for several more minutes, before finally letting go.

21 placed her hand on Mafin's cheek, and said,"I'm really, really sorry for all of that, Mafin."

Mafin smiled,"It's okay, 21. I know the insane person we saw obviously wasn't you."

21 sighed, "About that...I think its time I tell you."

Mafin raised an eyebrow, "About what exactly?"

"My condition. I need to tell you everything."

* * *

Upon finishing her recap, Mafin, Begu, Krillin all stared at her with wide eyes.

21 nervously rubbed her arm, and Begu spoke up,"Well...that explains a lot."

Krillin added, "That hunger addiction...sounds kinda unsettling."

Mafin asked,"21, why didn't you tell us this on the island?"

21 sadly replied,"Because I...didn't want you to worry about me. I knew that your training was important, and I couldn't risk ruining it."

Mafin frowned, "But 21, regardless of our training, you're our friend, and we still care about you. We want to know if you're doing alright."

21 nodded, "I understand. And I'm sorry if this whole conundrum all came out of nowhere."

Mafin said, "It's okay."

He let out a deep sigh, prompting 21 to ask, "What's wrong Mafin?"

"Admittedly, Begu and I also haven't been entirely honest with you."

The Pesutorian looked at Begu, who knew exactly what Mafin was about to do, and gave him a nod of approval.

He looked back at Android 21, "It's time I tell you what really happened to us."

Mafin proceeded to explain his and Begu's backstory in full detail, from the day Octoria was destroyed, to the day they escaped the Frieza Force.

"Oh, wow...", said a horrified 21 as she placed her hand over her heart, "I'm...deeply sorry for what happened to you both. No one should have to undergo that much pain and suffering!"

"Yeah, it wasn't fun for either of us...", said Begu, who sighed deeply afterwards.

Mafin quietly nodded in agreement.

Android 21 then smiled softly,"Well, I'm relieved that you two managed to escape."

Krillin nodded, "Same here. And even after all that, you guys stepped up to the plate, and proved to yourselves that you could be better than the Frieza Force. That you could become great heroes. I'm proud that you managed to make it this far."

Mafin and Begu each smiled bashfully, and both men said, "Thanks you two!"

The monk yawned, "Let's head inside."

The trio quietly nodded and followed Krillin inside the house.

Krillin said, "Okay, I'm gonna go upstairs now. See you guys in the morning."

The trio waved at Krillin, who proceeded to walk up to Master Roshi's room.

Mafin and Begu were about to turn in as well, but then 21 spoke up,

"Wait, guys. I wanted to ask you something. It's about Octoria."

Begu said, "Uh, sure. What is it?"

"Why didn't you use the Dragon Balls to revive the planet? Or at the very least, your parents?"

Mafin explained, "Well, we were thinking about doing that, and we even informed Krillin about it on the island, but then he told us that the Dragon Balls can only revive a group of people if they have been dead for a month. And since our parents and Octoria were gone for two years...we can't revive them."

"I see. Once again, I'm deeply sorry for your loss.", said 21 as she looked down with a sorrowful expression.

Mafin smiled, "21, it's okay. We'll be alright."

Begu groaned, "Enough with this downbeat energy already! Let's just go to sleep!"

Mafin sighed, "He's right. We should get some rest."

The duo got onto their respective beds, and 21 got onto her queen sized bed.

Begu yawned, "Welp, g'night you guys!"

Mafin and 21 responded, "Good night, Begu."

The trio then slowly drifted off to sleep.


	22. Spending A Day With Goku!

It was now early in the morning, and the duo and 21 were sprawled out on their respective beds, still asleep.

All of a sudden, they heard a knock on the door.

Begu groaned,"Who is it _now_?"

Mafin groggily replied,"It's probably Bulma with the medicine."

21 yawned and said, "I better get up."

"No, no, it's fine, 21. I'll do it.", said Mafin.

The Pesutorian stood up, stretched himself out, and walked over to the door.

He opened it and saw Goku, dressed in his signature gi, holding a container that contained several vials of the medicine.

Goku exclaimed, "Hey Mafin! Bulma wanted me to deliver this stuff to you!"

"Thanks Goku.", said Mafin with a yawn.

Goku frowned and asked,"Are you alright? You seem a little tired."

Mafin rubbed his eye, "Yeah, we had to deal with some...stuff last night."

Goku inquired,"What kind of stuff?"

Mafin yawned and replied,"It's a long story, but it has to do with those vials you're holding."

"Oh, okay. Mind if I come in?"

"No, not at all.", said Mafin with a smile.

His eyes widened in realization and he exclaimed,"Except, we kinda have to get up first! So just please hold on a minute!"

Goku said, "Um, alright."

Mafin grabbed the container from the Saiyan. He quickly closed the door and ran over to Begu and 21, who were still asleep.

He slapped Begu across the face, making his friend yelp with pain.

Begu sat up and growled,"What the heck was _that_ for?!"

Mafin nervously said,"S-Sorry Begu, but Goku's about to come in!"

Begu exclaimed,"Aw crap! And we're **_still_** wearing our clothes from yesterday!"

Mafin added, "And we haven't even brushed our teeth, OR showered up! I really don't want to walk around with bad hygiene!"

Begu exclaimed, "Then we gotta get ready!"

They both went over to 21 and lightly tapped her shoulders.

21 slowly opened her eyes and groggily asked,"W-What is it, guys?"

Mafin replied,"Goku's here."

"Wait, what?!", exclaimed 21 as she sat up, her glasses simultaneously falling off her face.

Mafin added, "And I have the vials with me!"

He gave the container to 21, who pulled one vial out, opened it up, and drank from it.

She closed the vial up, and placed it back in the container.

21 smiled and said, "Thank you."

Begu shouted, "Now let's go! We gotta get ready!"

21 said, "R-Right!", and quickly put her glasses back on.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Mafin (who was now wearing his Turtle School gi) opened the door for Goku.

He calmly said, "You can come in now."

The Saiyan nodded and walked in.

Mafin noticed that Goku was carrying a unknown red staff on his back.

Not wanting to bombard the Saiyan with questions, he decided to ask about it later.

Goku asked, "Where are Master Roshi and Krillin?"

"They're currently out looking for groceries. At least, that's what I read from the note that Krillin left on the fridge.", replied Mafin.

Begu (who was also wearing his gi) said, "So, all we have right now, in terms of breakfast related stuff...is cereal."

He pulled out a random cereal box out of the fridge,

"And not the good kind, more like the really generic, 'corn flakes' type kind."

21 (who was now wearing a red shirt with dark blue sweats) spoke up, "I actually think that cereal is pretty good."

Begu muttered, "I highly disagree, but I respect your opinion."

Goku frowned, "Huh. Sounds like a real bummer."

His expression then brightened, "Hey, I got it! I'll go get some fish for us!"

Goku put two fingers to his forehead and concentrated on the various ki signatures in the nearby ocean.

After a few seconds, he grinned, "There we go!"

He instantly teleported away, and teleported outside a minute later.

"Come out here!", shouted Goku.

The trio looked at one another and shrugged.

They all walked outside to see Goku with a _massive_ blue fish sitting behind him.

He chuckled, "What do you think?"

Begu stammered, "Th-That thing's the size of Kame House!"

Goku looked back at the fish, and said, "Really? 'Cause it doesn't look that big."

"I didn't mean litera—y'know what, never mind."

Goku smiled, "Anyways, let's head over to Mount Paozu! It'll be much easier cooking the fish over there."

21 happily said, "That sounds wonderful Goku!"

Mafin grinned, "I agree!"

Begu shrugged, "Eh, sure, sounds cool."

The Saiyan smiled and looked up to the sky.

He shouted,"NIMBUS!"

Just then, a fluffy golden cloud arrived near him, much to the confusion of the trio.

Goku hopped on the cloud and explained,

"This little cloud is the Flying Nimbus! Master Roshi gave it to me when I was a kid."

Mafin exclaimed,"Ooh, that's right! I remember Krillin talking about it during one of our breaks!"

Begu asked, "How do you ride on that thing again? 'Cause we kinda forgot how it works."

Goku explained, "Well, you can only ride on it if you're pure of heart."

The duo looked at one another, then turned back to Goku.

Mafin asked, "So, can we try it out?"

Goku hopped off and said, "Sure! Just be careful though."

The duo nodded and climbed onto the fluffy cloud.

Mafin managed to successfully sit on it, while unfortunately, Begu fell off and hit the ground, face first.

Begu stood up and grumbled, "What the heck?! Why can't I get on?!"

Goku asked, "Have you done anything impure?"

Begu thought about it for a minute, and replied, "Well, a few months ago, I took a quick peek at Master Roshi's magazines and I kinda started to-"

"BEGU!", shouted Mafin.

"Woah! Okay! I don't need to know anymore, uh, icky stuff!", exclaimed Goku.

21 sighed, "Please don't talk about this inappropriate subject any further..."

Begu angrily crossed his arms, "Whatever! I'll just fly the old fashioned way!"

Goku turned to 21 and asked, "So, do you want to get on?"

The android's eyes widened in suprise, "M-Me? Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Trust me, it'll be fun!", happily said Goku.

Unsure of how this scenario would play out, 21 looked off to the side and nervously twisted one of her hair bangs.

She wondered if she would really be accepted on that cloud, or rejected due to her unsettling hunger problem...

21 looked back at Mafin, who sported a kind, reassuring smile on his face.

Mafin said, "Try it out 21! I'm sure it will accept you."

She replied, "O-Okay...I'll do it..."

The android carefully climbed on and, to her amazement, she was able to sit behind Mafin.

Goku smiled and hoisted the massive fish on his back.

He exclaimed, "Let's go!"

The group flew across the ocean, and soared straight into the clouds.

Goku looked over at the duo and called out, "Hey guys!"

Both Mafin and Begu turned to face the Saiyan.

"Yesterday, Gohan told me that you've been training with Krillin, both on the Lookout and on that old island. So, how about you two engage in a little sparring match with me?"

Mafin and Begu both went wide-eyed.

Mafin stammered, "W-With...you?!"

Goku nodded, "Yeah! I want to see where you two are at in terms of power!"

Mafin excitedly smiled in anticipation.

Begu grinned,"Oh, heck yeah, my dude!"

Goku chuckled, "Awesome!"

21's eyes widened, "You three want to face off against each other... _already_?"

Begu replied, "Hey, why not? I mean, it allows us to see how far we've grown!"

Mafin then spoke up, "Goku, I was wondering, what's that red staff on your back for?"

Goku replied, "Oh this thing? It's called the Power Pole, and it's a weapon that can stretch across various distances. I used it a lot when I was a kid, but eventually, I had to place it underneath Korin's Tower."

Mafin's eyes widened in disbelief, "So _**that's**_ what that long, red pole is?! The one that's located in between the base of the building?!"

Goku happily said,"Yep! I was feeling kinda nostalgic, so Korin actually let me borrow it for today. It's pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah, it sounds incredible!", smiled Mafin.

Just then, Goku looked downwards and said, "Alright! We made it!"

Mafin, Begu, and 21 collectively nodded in response, and followed Goku all the way down to a random spot at Mount Paozu.

* * *

The Saiyan carefully set the large fish on the ground.

He ran over to a nearby tree and struck it down with one kick, causing it to collapse.

Goku then grabbed the tree, and threw it over a few feet away from where the group was standing.

He quickly flew over and rapidly kicked it into multiple pieces of firewood, which all fell neatly onto a small row.

The trio looked at the Saiyan with shocked expressions.

They were amazed that he was able to pull off an astonishing feat in less than a minute!

Goku thought, " _That should be good enough!"_

He flew downwards, grabbed some of the pieces and sat them on the ground.

The Saiyan looked over to the group and asked, "You guys wanna sit down?"

Mafin happily replied, "Yeah, sure!"

21 smiled, "Thank you Goku!"

Begu happily said, "Thanks man!"

The three of them sat down on the make-shift seats.

Goku chuckled and placed the large fish on the remaining pile of wood.

He fired a small ki blast at the pile, causing it, along with the fish, to be engulfed in flames.

Goku sighed in relief and said, "Now, we just wait for it to cook."

* * *

Meanwhile, Queen Shannon, who was perched on a tree branch in the far distance, saw that the four heroes were gathered around the large fish.

The spider queen said,"Well, well, Lee, looks like those two aliens are back, along with some new tall girl, and some big, spikey haired man."

She smirked, "And since I've trained a bit more since our last encounter, I better make sure that those aliens **don't** get in my way again."

Meanwhile, Lee (who was sitting right next to Shannon) stared in awe at a random butterfly, and mindlessly nodded.

He happily said,"Yeah! I, uh, wholeheartedly agree!"

Shannon frowned at her assistant, "You didn't even listen to a word I said, did you?"

Lee, still transfixed on the butterfly, asked,"What'd you say, my Queen?"

The Queen let out an annoyed sigh, grabbed her assistant by the jaw, and hopped down to the bushes below to enact her new plan.

Shannon said, "For our plan, let's gather a bunch of our spiders, and ambush the group! But, we'll do it AFTER they finish eating."

Lee perked a brow in confusion, "After? Why not right now?"

Shannon replied, "Because it's more fun that way! At least, to me it is."

She grabbed a nearby stick, and began drawing up a diagram.

The queen explained, "First, five of our spiders will web up a massive cocoon around the two aliens, that tall lady, and the big guy. Then, you and I will arrive, and after I chat with them for a bit, I'll take the four of them out in an EPIC attack!"

Lee exclaimed, "That plan sounds amazing, my queen!"

Shannon grinned, "I know! Let me tell ya Lee, this'll be our best one yet!"

* * *

A half an hour later, the group had finished off the massive fish, and they were all stuffed.

Goku let out a massive burp, and rubbed his stomach with satisfaction.

"Phew!", he exclaimed, "That hit the spot!"

Mafin said, "I agree."

21 sighed deeply, "It _really_ did..."

Begu added, "Yeah..."

Goku then stood up and stretched out his legs.

Afterwards, he put two fingers to his forehead once more.

"I better let Chi-Chi know I brought you three over here this morning.", he said with a smile, "I'll see you guys in a bit! Bye!"

He instantly teleported away.

Begu turned to his friends and asked, "Is it me, or does his hair stay at the _exact_ same shape and angle, no matter which way you view him?"

Both Mafin and 21 looked at one another with shocked expressions, then looked back at Begu.

Mafin replied, "Huh. Now that you mention it, it kinda...does!"

21 smiled, "It's rather amusing now that I think about it."

Begu snickered, "Yeah! I mean, does he use hair gel to keep the angle up like that?!"

The trio collectively laughed at the humorous thought.

The laughter died down after a few seconds, and Mafin spoke up, "So, 21, I was wondering. What was that medicine created from?"

21 replied, "Well, on the night before the party, I was told by Bulma that her intergalactic friend named Jaco helped her make it from some sort of alien flower...but I can't recall what exactly it was."

Mafin thought, " _So, an alien flower was the one to stop her hunger problem_ _. Interesting..."_

Begu said, "We gotta be thankful that it managed to calm you down."

21 nodded, "Yes, that is true. And I'm even more thankful that Bulma finally solved this issue."

Begu chuckled, "Yep!"

Mafin sighed, "Thank the stars we'll never have to hear from Crazy 21 ever again..."

Begu and 21 collectively said, "Agreed."

Suddenly, Mafin and Begu sensed several big power levels nearby.

And they were very, _**very**_ familiar.

Begu anxiously thought, " _Please not them, why'd it have to be them, please not them, why'd it have to be them, please not them..."_

Mafin thought, " _They're back?! After all this time?!"_

21 nervously asked, "U-Um, guys? What's going-"

"NOW!", called out a certain voice.

Five horse-sized spiders scurried out of various bushes and began circling around the group.

The duo got into their Turtle School stances and 21 stammered, "Wh-What the...?"

Mafin shouted, "21! Stay behind us!"

Just then, all three of them were quickly webbed up together in a massive cocoon.

Mafin growled, "Not again!"

Begu angrily shouted, " _ **OH COME ON! WHY?! WHY DO WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN?! I HATE THIS!** "_

"Aww, thanks! I hate you too!", said Queen Shannon, who crawled towards the group.

She sported a sinister grin on her face.

The queen thought, " _Looks like the spikey-haired guy is nowhere to be seen. Ah, oh well. Doesn't matter, because at least I have these three right where I want them..."_

Lee popped up from behind the queen and happily exclaimed, "Hi guys! How's it going?"

Examining the spider queen that was standing before them, 21 asked, "Mafin, Begu, is _she_ the spider woman that you mentioned? Back when we first met?"

Mafin nervously replied, "Y-Yeah. Like I said before, it was a long story."

"Why, yes, it was a long story that ended with these fools running away from me and my glorious army!", said Shannon as she crawled up more closely to the two of them.

She smiled at 21, "Hello, tall lady! I'm Queen Shannon."

"A-Android 21...", said the android in an awkward tone of voice.

Shannon exclaimed, "Ah! A robot lady! That makes things even more interesting."

Mafin shouted, "DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!"

Shannon rolled her eyes and turned to face Mafin,

"Yeesh, kid. Calm down. I wasn't gonna do anything yet. What's with the sudden hero yell?"

The Pesutorian awkwardly blushed, "W-Well, um, because...I want to show that I'm not terrified!"

Shannon smiled, "D'aww! That's cute. You wanna protect your robot friend!"

Begu chuckled, "Hey, at least _he_ doesn't get loud and angry when a stupid plan fails spectacularly."

Shannon frowned at the Octorian, "Says the guy who went berserk over a certain phra-"

"Hey! What's going on here?"

Everyone looked up, and saw Goku floating above, glaring down at the spider queen.

21 sighed in relief and smiled, while Mafin and Begu happily exclaimed, "Goku!"

The Saiyan floated down and said, "I don't know why you're doing this, but you better let my friends go."

Shannon grinned evilly, "I don't think so, big guy."

She shouted,"Spiders! Attack this Goku person! Now!"

The five spiders did what was told, and proceeded to scurry towards the Saiyan, who held his signature Turtle School stance, and had a determined look on his face.

Two of the spiders leaped towards Goku, and he jabbed them both in the head via palm strikes, knocking them out.

Another spider was about to bite the Saiyan on the leg, but thankfully, he kicked the spider straight in the jaw, sending it flying, and it crashed into a larger tree.

Goku sensed two other spiders coming for him from behind.

He flew up in the air, dodging the vicious arachnids, and grabbed his trusty Power Pole.

"POWER POLE EXTEND!", shouted Goku.

The weapon proceeded to do so, which knocked the massive arachnids straight into each other.

Goku landed on the ground and sensed one more spider coming for him.

Lee leaped out at the martial artist from behind.

"I'M ATTACKING NOW!", he screamed.

Goku turned around, and using the Power Pole, he struck the assistant in the head and the legs, and sent him back a few feet with a kiai attack.

After that, the Saiyan safely placed the red staff back in its sheath.

He then faced the queen, who stared in shock at the Saiyan's power.

As sweat dripped down her brow, Shannon thought, " _I don't believe this! Those two aliens fought me over the course of fifteen minutes! But, this man knocked out Lee and **five** of my spiders, in less than **four** minutes! What...is he?"_

Goku sternly said, "Now then, let my friends go. I'm not gonna ask you again."

Shannon took a deep breath and thought, " _Not to worry, I'll just attack him myself!"_

She shouted, "NEVER!"

The spider queen leaped over to Goku and unleashed a seri _e_ s of palm strikes, which the Saiyan easily dodged.

Shannon then conjured up a ball of flame with her right hand, spread her fingers out, and the flames quickly spread across them. She proceeded to release several smaller flame projectiles at Goku, scattershot style.

The Saiyan swiftly blocked them all away with ease.

Shannon growled with anger, and began punching the Saiyan several times in the stomach, which _still_ had no effect on him.

" _Those punches would usually break a large tree in half! H-How is he **this** strong?", _fearfully thought the queen.

She balled her fists in anger, then shouted, "I WON'T LOSE TO YOU!"

She blasted a massive burst of flames from both of her hands, and Goku instantly teleported away.

Shannon blurted out, "Wh-What?! Where'd he-?"

"My queen! Behind you!", shouted Lee.

Shannon turned her head to see Goku unleash a powerful barrage of punches and kicks onto her, all of which were incredibly fast and precise.

To finish off the barrage, the Saiyan sent a powerful kick directly to the queen's face, making her soar through the air. She ended up crashing through several large trees.

Goku teleported to where the queen was.

He said, "You know it's pointless to continue this battle, right?"

A disheveled Shannon growled at Goku, "Wh-Why...you! I am Shannon! The mighty queen of the spiders!"

Goku then laughed out loud, prompting the queen to ask, "What's so funny?"

"Your real name is Shannon?! What kind of name is that?!", replied Goku.

"I know, right?!", shouted Begu from a distance.

Bulging veins formed on the queen's forehead and she muttered, "I really should've stuck with my fake name..."

Goku then sighed, "Let's just call off this skirmish, alright? To be honest, it isn't all that exciting from a fighting perspective."

"You really think this battle is...entertaining?!", scoffed Shannon as she stood back up.

Goku replied, "This specific battle? No!"

He stated, "What you're currently doing is terrible, tying up my new friends like that. And from a fighting perspective, this battle also isn't that interesting, or informative to me either."

The martial artist smiled, "And I **_do_** love a good fight! It is in my Saiyan nature after all."

Shannon raised an eyebrow, "Saiyan? What's a Saiyan?"

Goku began to explain, "Well, uh, they're this alien race that was super powerful, and-"

Shannon spoke up, "You said **'was** super powerful'. As in past tense. I'm guessing something happened to them _?"_

Goku nodded, "They were all wiped out by this tyrant named Frieza. That guy was a cruel monster, I'll give you that. He nearly almost made me lose myself."

Shannon thought to herself, " _Frieza! That name again. Why did that purple alien mistake me for him during that rage_ _-induced freakout of his? I better speculate on that later..."_

She asked, "So, I take it that you're the last of these Saiyans?"

Goku shook his head, "No, not really. There's Vegeta, who's a prince. And there's also my mom, who's currently out having adventures in space."

Shannon's jaw dropped, "There are _**three**_ of you?!"

Goku chuckled, "Yep! And there other powerful fighters here on Earth too, like my former rival Piccolo, my best friend Krillin..."

As he began listing off his allies, Shannon thought, " _If those fighters are just as strong as this guy right here, then my spiders and I are screwed! Those two aliens will have nothing to worry about!"_

She gulped and looked down in sorrow, " _My...my plans are ruined. Again. What's the point in taking over the world now if this guy's powerful enough to stop me?"_

The queen shook her head in disbelief and thought, " _I_ _gotta get out of here..."_

Shannon whistled for Lee, who scurried all the way to her.

Lee asked, "Yes my queen?"

Shannon replied, "Let's head back to the cave. I was thinking about...rethinking this whole plan."

The queen looked up and saw that Goku was still standing there.

Shannon angrily spat, "Out of my way, Saiyan.

Goku said, "Okay. Just make sure that my friends are safe."

Shannon scoffed, "Fine."

He walked out of the way, letting Shannon crawl off.

She shouted, "Spiders!"

All five spiders stood back up upon hearing the queen's voice.

"Free those two aliens and that robot girl!"

The spiders nodded and crawled over to the group.

The large arachnids each tore open the strong webbing with their chelicerae, freeing the trio.

They saw Shannon crawl up towards them.

Mafin and Begu held their respective Turtle School poses, ready to face the queen once again.

"Don't...just don't.", said an annoyed Shannon, "I have no interest in fighting you two right now."

Mafin and Begu looked at one another, and shrugged in confusion.

She sighed, "I just need to think about what to do for...for..."

Shannon quietly scurried away, and Lee and the other spiders followed her.

21 frowned, "She seems saddened by something. What happened to her?"

Begu shrugged, "Meh, who cares. At least she won't bother us anymore for today."

Just then, Goku teleported in front of them, and asked, "Are you guys alright?"

Mafin smiled, "We are, thanks to you!"

The Saiyan chuckled, "Don't mention it!"

Begu smirked, "So, wanna have our match now?"

Goku excitedly replied, "Oh yeah!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **-For those wondering how Gine (Goku's mother) survived Planet Vegeta's destruction, please read my other DBZ story _A Strange Group Of Heroes,_ as that story is also set in the same continuity as this one.**


	23. The Duo vs Goku!

Goku looked at his current surroundings, and quickly realized something.

He nervously gulped and asked the trio, "Is it okay if we move somewhere else?"

Mafin spoke up, "Sure, why?"

"Gohan's currently having his study session, and I kinda don't want to disturb him."

21 smiled, "That's understandable, Goku. All three of us wouldn't want to disturb him either. _Especially_ when it comes to education."

Mafin nodded in agreement, and Begu exclaimed, "Yeah! What she said!"

Goku sighed with relief, "Okay, good. Because when I get into fighting, I get **_INTO_** it! Which means this match could get a little...destructive."

Begu smirked, "Hey, makes it more of a challenge for us."

Goku nodded and thought, " _Now let me see if there are any distant locations devoid of people around..."_

He put two fingers to his forehead, and began searching for a new location.

After a few seconds, he smiled, "Okay, I got it!"

Goku turned to the trio, "There's a distant rocky wasteland several miles away. I can get us there quickly with Instant Transmission."

21 thought, " _Rocky wasteland? Could it feature the same laboratory that I was discovered in? If so, then that gives me an idea..."_

The Saiyan happily said, "Grab on you guys."

The trio put each of their hands on Goku's shoulder, and the Saiyan instantly teleported away.

* * *

The group arrived at the rocky wasteland.

Goku grinned, "Sweet! Now, we can start!"

21 turned to the duo and said, "Guys, I'm going to see if that old laboratory you found me in is around here."

Mafin nodded, "Alright. Good luck with finding your information, 21."

The android said, "Thank you. And please be careful out here."

Mafin calmly said, "Of course."

Begu added, "We got this!"

21 smiled, and began flying away from the three fighters.

The duo and Goku proceeded to float several feet away from each other.

Goku stretched his legs and said, "I hope you boys are ready for this."

Begu grinned, "Heck yeah we are. This is gonna be exciting!"

Mafin nodded, "I agree! Having a match with the one who took down Frieza is an honor!"

Goku chuckled, "Thanks Mafin."

The three fighters then patiently stared one another down.

A second later, they all flew towards one another, and the match began.

The duo sent constant jab after jab on the martial artist, who kept on blocking and dodging.

Goku was obviously holding back of course, as he _really_ didn't want to kill the duo using his Saiyan strength.

The three fighters quickly took their battle to the sky.

Afterwards, Mafin (using his 'Heating Hands' technique) balled his hand up into a fist and uppercutted the martial artist's jaw. Following this, he roundhouse kicked him in the stomach.

Then, Begu headbutted Goku in the face, and sent a palm strike straight to his neck.

Goku hacked out some saliva, and smirked, "Not bad. You two make a decent tag team."

"Thanks!", exclaimed Mafin and Begu.

Goku said, "Now watch this."

He took a deep breath and shouted, " ** _KAIO-KEN!_ "**

As he began charging up, a crimson aura engulfed the Saiyan's body.

Mafin and Begu's eyes widened when they sensed his energy.

"His power is rising fast!", said Mafin.

Begu exclaimed, "Yeah! No duh!"

Before the duo could do anything, Goku teleported behind them, and sent several rapid fire punches to the both of them.

He finished off his attack with a double fist strike, causing the boys to fall and crash onto the ground.

The duo quickly hopped to their feet, and looked up at Goku.

Begu shouted, "NOW TAKE THIS!", and unleashed a large amount of ki blasts on Goku.

They were all instantly swatted away by the Saiyan.

Begu's eyes widened and muttered, "Well, crap. I was sure that attack would work."

" _So, it's gonna be like that, huh?_ ", thought the Saiyan.

Goku then cupped his hands together, and slightly turned his body around.

He chanted, " **KA...ME...HA..ME...** "

When he said this, a blue ball of ki energy began forming in his palms.

Mafin exclaimed, "Wait a minute! Isn't that the Kamehameha attack Krillin was talking about?!"

Begu exclaimed, "I guess so!"

Mafin nervously asked, "What do we do?!"

Begu replied, "Let's just fire our own beam attacks at his!"

The duo charged themselves up, and they unleashed two full power energy waves at Goku.

" _HAAAAAH!_ ", shouted the Saiyan as he fired out a massive blue ki beam.

The three attacks clashed with one another, and a beam struggle emerged.

However, after a few minutes of this, Mafin and Begu clearly fell to the losing side as Goku's Kamehameha started to overpower their energy waves.

Mafin stammered, "It-It's too much power! We're going to have to avoid the attack!"

Begu shouted, "Let's dodge it! Quickly!"

Mafin nodded and the two of them flew out of the way.

The blast hit the ground, causing a gigantic explosion.

The explosion soon faded, and all that was left was a large crater.

Mafin and Begu flew up next to Goku, who gave a thumbs up.

"You two were pretty good! Krillin's been teaching you well.", said the Saiyan.

Mafin smiled, "You were great as well!"

Begu playfully smirked, "But you were holding back, weren't you?"

Goku nervously chuckled, "Y-Yeah! I just didn't want to risk killing you two."

Begu shrugged, "Meh, that's fair."

"Besides that, I still think you two did good. You seem like promising fighters."

The duo happily gave one another a fist bump.

Goku smirked, "Want to go another round?"

Mafin and Begu held one another in excitement, and they both shouted, " **YES!"**

* * *

Meanwhile, 21 flew around the rocky landscape for a bit, before coming across a familiar cave entrance.

" _Found it."_ , thought 21.

She flew inside, and walked past the destroyed android pods.

The android saw various blueprints strewn all over several metallic desks.

She narrowed her eyes and saw a bunch of files underneath one of the blueprints.

21 grinned with excitement, and immediately grabbed them.

The android quickly flipped through several documents about many different androids, before stopping at her own document.

21 examined it carefully.

After a while, she thought, " _I don't believe this. There's nothing written about my past life on here."_

At that moment, she heard an explosion coming from outside.

21 thought, " _I better let the guys know about this..."_


	24. Trying To Find 21's Memories

The android quietly placed the files back on the table, and flew outside.

She looked down and saw that Mafin, Begu, and Goku were all lying in a massive crater, laughing happily.

Goku grinned, "That was a fun match!"

Mafin agreed, "I'll say!"

Begu chuckled,"Yeah!"

Mafin looked up to see 21 and smiled, "Hey 21! Did you find the information you were looking for?"

21 sighed deeply, "No. No I didn't."

She floated down to the group, and walked over to them, "The files I found were filled with data about my date of creation, the cells I was made with, and the type of android I am...but there was nothing else. Nothing about my past history."

Mafin frowned, "O-Oh. I'm really sorry, 21."

Goku asked, "Um, what are you guys talking about?"

Mafin explained, "21 is trying to find any information she can on her past, since she doesn't remember any of it."

Goku's eyes widened and he exclaimed, "She doesn't?! Not even a memory from childhood?!"

21 shook her head, "Nothing at all."

Goku stood up and frowned, "Well, I wish I could do something to help, but I just don't know how to solve your issue. Sorry about that."

21 sighed, "It's fine, Goku."

She then said, "Let's just head to Capsule Corp. to see if Bulma can help me out."

Goku nodded and placed two fingers to his forehead.

The duo quickly stood up and walked over to Goku.

The trio placed their hands on the Saiyan's back, and he teleported away.

* * *

They arrived near the Capsule Corp. building, and Goku rang the doorbell.

The door opened to reveal Bulma wearing a simple blue T-shirt with dark blue sweats and sneakers.

She smiled, "Hey Goku! How was the delivery to Kame House?"

"It went great!", happily exclaimed the Saiyan, "I even have the trio with me right now!"

Suprised by their sudden arrival, she asked, "Um, what are you three doing here?"

21 spoke up, "I need your help with something."

Bulma said, "Alright, let's head to the lab first."

The group went inside the building, and walked all the way over to one of the Capsule Corp. labs.

As they went inside, Bulma inquired, "So what do you need?"

21 explained, "It concerns my origins. See, while the boys trained with Goku, I revisited the old laboratory. I was looking for any files that could shed some light on my origins, but nothing came about."

Bulma said, "Huh. I think that old lab might've been one of the many labs that Dr. Gero worked in."

21 exclaimed, "What?! There are other labs?!"

Bulma nodded, "Yeah! I was shocked by that too!"

"Wait, who is Dr. Gero?", asked a confused Mafin.

Bulma explained, "He was an important scientist for the Red Ribbon Army. I read about him in one of my old textbooks."

Begu exclaimed, "Wait, you knew about all of this, and you're sharing this information **_NOW?!"_**

Bulma turned to the Octorian and angrily replied, "Well, you guys never asked! How was I supposed to know about 21 wanting to seek out the truth?!"

21 frowned, "I'm sorry, Bulma. I should've asked earlier."

The blue haired scientist sighed, "It's fine."

Goku asked, "So, where are these other labs located?"

Bulma replied, "From what I remember, they're located in various spots all throughout the world."

Goku happily said, "That should be easy! I can just use Instant Transmission to find the labs."

Bulma grinned, "Great! Let me find the coordinates."

The scientist turned on a nearby computer (which also had a printer attached) and searched for some of the Red Ribbon Army's lab coordinates.

She managed to successfully find four of them, which were located in the east, west, north, and south parts of the world.

Considering Goku's sometimes-forgetful nature, she printed out the coordinates, and gave it to the Saiyan.

Goku nodded in response, and said, "Okay! See ya Bulma!"

Mafin, Begu, and 21 happily said, "Thank you!"

Bulma smiled and replied, "Good luck out there!"

The trio then placed their hands on Goku's back once more.

The group instantly teleported away, setting off on their grand, world-spanning adventure.

* * *

 ** _Five hours later..._**

* * *

The group returned to Mount Paozu, directly near the Son household.

Begu growled, "Man, I can't believe we traveled all around the world to find those four labs, and we _**still**_ weren't able to find any information on 21!"

Mafin sighed, "And all we found were other androids..."

"Yeah, but who cares about that?!", exclaimed Begu, "It's not like they'll become anything important in the future!"

21 thought, " _I just hope that the other unexplored labs contain information about me..."_

The door opened to reveal Chi-Chi, who smiled and said, "Goku! You're finally back! And I see you brought the guests with you."

Goku happily said, "Yeah! I'm actually about to head over to Korin's. I gotta give him the Power Pole back."

Chi-Chi nodded, "Okay! Tell Korin I said hi!"

The Saiyan smiled and teleported off.

Mafin walked up to Chi-Chi and said, "It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Chi-Chi."

He politely bowed at the woman, who exclaimed, "Mafin! Aren't you a gentleman!"

21 walked up to Chi-Chi afterwards.

The android smiled, "It's an honor to meet you, Mrs. Chi-Chi. I am Android 21."

21 bowed politely as well, making the black-haired woman smile, " _She must be one of those androids from that old group Goku fought. Thank goodness she's on our side now."_

As 21 and Mafin walked inside, Begu said, "Um, it's an honor to see you again-"

Chi-Chi interrupted, "Begu, you don't have to bow if you don't want to. I _really_ don't want to bring up some uncomfortable memories, especially considering what happened to you and Mafin."

Begu smiled, "Thanks, Chi-Chi."

He followed his two companions inside, and sat on the couch alongside them.

Begu sighed, "Welp, that was a day wasted."

"Yeah...", said Mafin.

"Indeed.", said 21, who let out a sigh of disappointment.

"What's with you three?", asked Chi-Chi, who walked over to the group.

21 explained, "We were traveling around the world for five hours, and we couldn't find anything on my past history."

Chi-Chi inquired, "Well, why were you looking for your past history?"

21 replied, "For some unexplained reason, I can't remember what I was like when I was human."

Chi-Chi frowned, "That sounds awful!"

21 nodded, "It is..."

"Well, I hope that you'll eventually find what looking you're for."

21 smiled, "Thank you, Mrs. Chi-Chi."

The black-haired woman looked at a clock nearby, "It's 4:05 now. I better check on in Gohan."

She said, "Excuse me.", and walked over to her son's room.

The group remained silent for a minute, then Goku instantly arrived in the middle of the room.

The martial artist smiled, "I'm back!"

He walked over to the duo, "Hey, Mafin, Begu! While I was at Korin's, I was thinking...why did you two decide to become fighters?"

Mafin explained, "Well, months ago, the other guys asked us if we wanted to join them at the Lookout. Begu and I knew that we couldn't let this planet suffer the same horrors we experienced while in the Frieza Force."

Begu added, "And the reason why we were even **_in_** the Frieza Force was because...we had no choice."

Goku asked, "What do you mean?"

The duo proceeded to explain their backstory to the Saiyan.

Goku sighed, "I'm deeply sorry for your losses. You two definitely have been through a whole lot..."

Mafin smiled, "It's okay. We're just glad that Frieza's finally gone."

Goku nodded and proceeded to sit down next to the group.

He said, "I agree. He was a dangerous opponent, and he awakened a legendary transformation within me called a Super Saiyan. I nearly almost lost myself in the rage of that form."

Mafin and Begu remembered Krillin telling them about the chilling way he was killed by Frieza.

21 also recalled the monk telling her this as well on the island.

They deduced that Krillin's murder is what caused that huge transformation.

The three of them shivered with fear upon imagining what an angry Goku might look like.

Sensing their nervousness, Goku decided to switch over to a new topic, "So, who's that spider lady you guys were talking to earlier?"

Begu replied, "Oh, her! Well, she's some enemy that Mafin and I met a few months ago."

Mafin nodded and continued, "Our first battle was...rather intense. See, it all started with a picnic..."


	25. The Spider Queen's New Goal

**_Meanwhile..._**

Deep within the massive cave of Mount Paozu, all of the spiders were peacefully resting in their respective nests.

With the exception of Lee, who was keeping watch outside near the entrance.

As the sky started turning dark, the assistant decided to check on his queen, and see how she was doing. He proceeded to head inside.

When he got to Queen Shannon's room, he saw that the queen was dressed in an old pink bathrobe and lying on a hand made couch (which was entirely composed of spider silk and some _very_ sturdy tree branches).

The queen was wearing headphones and listening to Martika's "Alibis" on a old Walkman.

She was also staring mindlessly at an old tube TV, which was wasn't even plugged in.

"My queen? Are you awake?", asked a concerned Lee.

Shannon groaned, "Go away..."

Lee crawled closer to her, "My queen, you've been on this couch for several hours now. Is everything alright?"

Shannon rolled over to the side, trying to avoid eye contact with her assistant.

She felt a push on her back, and heard Lee say, "I'm not gonna leave until I hear your response."

Shannon scoffed, "You know exactly what my response is going to be..."

Lee nervously gulped and let out an awkward chuckle, "A-Actually...I have no idea what it is. Could you please explain?"

Shannon growled with anger as she proceeded to take her headphones off.

She sat up and yelled, " ** _I LOST TO AN ALIEN THAT'S TEN TIMES STRONGER THAN ANY OF US! AND HE HAS ALLIES THAT ARE JUST AS STRONG AS HIM! MY BIG PLAN IS RUINED, AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!"_**

Shannon immediately burst into sobs, and covered her face.

Lee calmly asked, "Do you need a hug?"

"Yes...", replied Shannon, albeit muffled.

Lee gently nuzzled up against her.

Shannon returned the favor and hugged the assistant.

Lee smiled, "It's going to be alright, my queen. You'll figure something out. You always do."

"But I don't know **_what_** to do now, Lee!", groaned Shannon.

She pulled away from her assistant and sighed, "I feel so useless..."

Lee shouted, "No! You are not useless!"

Shannon sniffed, "But I am."

"No, you're not!", exclaimed Lee, "You taught us how to hunt! How to fight!"

Shannon frowned, "Yeah, so what? It didn't matter in the end."

"Yeah it did! You taught us how to defend for ourselves. And when you needed subjects to help you train, we were there as well! You believed in us, and we believed in you!"

With a big smile, the assistant happily said, "You are the most wonderful queen we could ever ask for!"

Shannon felt deeply touched by Lee's words.

Even after her rather pathetic beat down by Goku, the green spider _still_ chose to stay by her side!

She smiled warmly at her assistant, "Thanks, Lee. I...I needed that."

"So, what are you gonna do now?", asked an excited Lee, hoping that his queen would return to her old self.

Shannon put a hand to her chin and thought about her new goals for a bit.

A wicked smile slowly crept across her face as she gained an idea, "Maybe instead of trying to take over the world, I'll just aim to be the rival of those other two aliens! Orange Boy and Purple Guy!"

Lee grinned, "Oooh! That sounds like an excellent idea!"

His eyes widened upon realizing something, "Wait, what about that android lady?"

"Meh, forget about her! She doesn't seem like the fighting type.", replied Shannon, who waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

Lee happily exclaimed, "Okay!"

Shannon hopped off the couch and let out an excited squeal, "This is great! I can prove to those bozos that **_I_** am the superior rival!"

The queen quickly took off her bathrobe (which revealed her normal outfit underneath), and tossed it to the side.

She said to herself, "Time to set my new goal into motion..."


	26. The Emperor Returns

And so, six months came and went.

Everyone was rather productive throughout that time:

The duo, and every other Z-Fighter, continued their training sessions up on the Lookout.

21 unfortunately gave up on her search for her past, and decided to work for Capsule Corp. as a researcher, believing that it could be rather fun and interesting. She also continued taking the alien medicine that Jaco provided as well.

Queen Shannon continued training herself to be the duo's most powerful rival, developing new attacks and new strikes and counter strikes.

Goku merely continued on his daily routine of training, not only to satisfy his Saiyan instincts of beating up stronger opponents, but also to defend the Earth from greater threats.

However, evil would soon re-emerge...

On a simple warm day in August, Mafin and Begu were sparring, as usual, when all of a sudden, they felt massive amounts of energy.

This power felt...different.

It felt cold, mysterious, and dangerous.

Mafin looked at Begu with a sense of fear in his eyes.

He stammered, "Y-You don't think it's-"

Begu interrupted, "NO! That shouldn't be possible!

They felt taps on their shoulders, and both men turned to see Krillin with a deeply terrified expression on his face.

Krillin said, "G-Guys, I'm so sorry. Frieza...is alive."

Both of the duo's hearts began fearfully beating.

Mafin whispered, "No..."

Begu exclaimed with shock, "WHAT?! H-HOW?!"

"I...I don't know. But I can definitely tell that he's coming here. Probably to finish off Goku.", replied Krillin, who sighed deeply afterwards.

Begu fell to his knees, and panted heavily.

This had to be a nightmare!

This couldn't possibly be real, right?!

Right?!

The Octorian shouted up to the sky, " ** _NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"_**

Krillin sighed, "I'm sorry Begu, but it is."

Begu lowered his head down, and silently punched the tile near him.

Just then, the Saiyan martial artist himself arrived.

Krillin exclaimed, "Goku! Thank goodness you're here!"

Goku nodded, "Yeah. Did you guys pick up on Frieza's energy too?"

The entire group nodded in response.

Piccolo angrily clenched his fists, "Why him? And why now?"

Tien stammered, "I-I can't believe this..."

Yamcha fearfully said, "This is bad! How the heck did that monster survive?!"

Goku folded his arms and sighed, "Honestly Yamcha, I have no idea. I thought I killed him back on Namek. But I guess he avoided my attack somehow."

He then stated, "You guys follow the direction of his power. I'll head over to Capsule Corp to meet up with Vegeta, since he's probably back on Earth by now."

The group collectively exclaimed, "Right!"

The Saiyan quickly teleported away.

Yamcha's eyes widened, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot that Vegeta's still around here..."

Mafin asked the bandit, "Where has he even been? I haven't seen him in a while."

Yamcha shrugged, "Beats me."

Krillin turned to the others and commanded, "Okay! Let's head out you guys!"

The rest of the Z-Fighters (as well as Mafin) nodded, and they all blasted off of the Lookout.

While flying throught the clouds, Mafin noticed that Begu had a vacant expression on his face.

Mafin smiled and nudged his friend, "Begu, it's going to be alright. I'm here for you."

However, the Octorian didn't say anything.

He honestly didn't know what to say in this moment...

* * *

Goku instantly arrived in the backyard of Capsule Corp.

Bulma (who was now donning a big poofy afro) grinned, "Goku! You made it!"

Vegeta (who was now wearing an odd-looking pink shirt) growled and walked up to Goku.

He grabbed his rival by his blue undershirt and angrily shouted, "You fool! How could you let Frieza survive?!"

Goku held his hands up in defense, "But I _**didn't!**_ I swear I killed him myself! Or, at least, I thought I did."

Vegeta scoffed and said, "In any case, I'm going to Frieza's location. Just stay out of my way, clown."

He immediately blasted off into the sky.

Goku sighed and turned to Bulma, "So, where has Vegeta been? I haven't seen him in a while."

Bulma replied, "He was off training in space. He left a week after you came back."

Goku nodded, "Huh. So, he's been trying to get stronger than me?"

Bulma sighed, "Yeah, pretty much."

The Saiyan let out a soft chuckle, "I figured."

He clenched his fist tightly and smirked, "I still want him ready for our rematch."

Bulma scoffed and thought, " _Does he seriously wanna fight Vegeta again? After all we just went through?"_

"Goku? What are you doing here?"

The Saiyan turned around and saw 21 (who was back in her original outfit) walk up to them.

Goku gained a serious expression on his face, "21, I've got some bad news. It's about Frieza. He's-"

"-Survived the explosion of the Namekian home world, and is now heading over to Earth.", interrupted 21.

Goku went wide eyed, "How do you-?"

Bulma quickly replied, "I explained the details to her earlier."

21 nodded in agreement, "I was actually wondering what are you doing here at Capsule Corp.? Shouldn't you be with the others?"

Goku replied, "Well, I came here to meet up with Vegeta. But, he kinda screamed at me and flew off."

He scratched the back of his head and let out an awkward laugh afterwards.

21 deeply sighed, "I'm just wondering how Mafin and Begu are processing this right now..."

Goku frowned, "Yeah. I honestly feel sorry for them."

Bulma spoke up, "Well, let's head over there! I mean, it could possibly be the end of the world, after all!"

Goku nodded, "Right."

He then concentrated on finding each of their energies.

After a few seconds, the Saiyan exclaimed, "I got them!"

Bulma smiled, "Great! Now let's go!"

* * *

The Z-Fighters all arrived at a desolate wasteland, and Vegeta arrived soon after.

He scoffed upon seeing Mafin and Begu, "These two weaklings are _**still**_ here?"

Mafin nervously backed away from the Saiyan Prince, while Begu merely stood in place, not even reacting to the insult.

"Hey, lay off, man!", angrily exclaimed Yamcha.

Krillin agreed, "These two have been training non-stop, and they've become far stronger than the last time you saw them!"

Vegeta growled, "Oh, really? Shall we put it to the test then?"

"Alright, Vegeta. That's enough."

The Z-Fighters turned around and saw Goku standing behind them, along with 21 and Bulma.

Vegeta rolled his eyes and thought, " _Of course the clown would defend the lackeys..."_

Looking at Bulma and 21, Yamcha asked, "What are you two doing here?"

Bulma replied, "Well, I was thinking that since Frieza was gonna blow the planet up, I might as well show up."

21 said, "And I decided to come here too."

"But, isn't it dangerous for you to be out here?!", fearfully questioned Yamcha.

Bulma shrugged, "Not really. I mean, we got Goku here to back us up."

Goku happily chuckled in response.

The bandit thought, " _Yeah, that is true..."_

21 then looked at Mafin and Begu, and turned back to Yamcha,

"Excuse me for a moment, Yamcha."

The bandit nodded and stepped out of the way.

She walked over to the duo.

21 asked, "How is Begu doing?"

Mafin sighed, "Not good. He hasn't spoken at all ever since we left the Lookout."

21 said, "I hope we can resove this Frieza matter quickly..."

Mafin nodded in agreement.

They both affectionately rubbed Begu's head.

After several minutes of waiting around, Piccolo's eyes widened.

He turned to the group and shouted, " ** _HE'S HERE!"_**

Goku, Vegeta and the rest of the Z-Fighters all got into their battle stances.

Begu breathed heavily as he saw the Frieza Force mothership appear in the skies above.

Mafin, 21, and Bulma quickly kneeled down to the Octorian's level.

Begu stammered, "I-It's...F-F-Frieza!"

Mafin caressed his best friend's face and smiled, "It's going to be alright, dude!"

21 said, "He's right, Begu!"

Bulma smiled, "You've got nothing to fear! Goku will take care of that monster!"

Begu nervously replied, "B-But it's still Frieza!"

The ship landed several feet away from the group.

The ship's door opened, and two distinct figures floated out and landed on the ground.

They were King Cold, the previous ruler of the Universe, and Frieza himself, who was now a cyborg.

Several other Frieza Force soldiers flew out and landed near the two Frost Demons.

* * *

Frieza smirked, "So, this is Earth. How boring and drab."

He looked over and saw the various Z-Fighters in the distance.

His eyes narrowed upon seeing Goku.

"There he is, Father. Just as I predicted.", said the tyrant.

King Cold nodded, "So, should we kill him first?"

Frieza shook his head no, "It wouldn't be very dramatic. I have a better idea. I think it would be better if I let my men kill his friends first."

An unsettling grin spread across his face, "So that he will feel what it is like to be undone, torn apart, and terrified! Terrified like I was!"

King Cold smiled, "Well, alright then. Do as you wish."

* * *

They all watched Frieza give out orders to his men.

Begu began growling with utter rage at the sight of the cybernetic Emperor.

Mafin noticed this and whispered, "Begu...you don't want to do this. He's far too powerful for all of us. Just let Goku handle this guy, alright?"

The Octorian shook his head, "I have to do this, Mafin. I can't take it anymore. I have to kill him, once and for all."

Begu took a deep breath and yelled, " ** _FRIEZA! YOU'RE MINE!"_**

He quickly blasted over to the Frieza Force's ship.

Goku shouted, "BEGU! NO!"

Krillin also shouted, "ARE YOU INSANE?! GET BACK HERE!"

Vegeta angrily thought, " _What the hell is he trying to do?!"_

Mafin facepalmed himself, and 21 fearfully asked, "Wh-What is he doing?!"

Mafin sighed, "Something incredibly insane and stupid."

* * *

The Frieza Force soldiers spotted the Octorian flying towards them.

They fired various laser beams at the purple alien, who dodged every single one of the attacks.

He rapidly fired several ki blasts at all of the members, killing them.

The Octorian landed, and ran all the way over to Frieza and his father.

Begu smirked, satisified that he was finally face to face with the tyrant himself.

"I'm here for you, Frieza.", said the Octorian, "I'm ready to face you down!"

To his surprise, Frieza had a rather confused expression on his face.

"Do I know you?", asked the tyrant.

Begu's blood suddenly ran cold.

He gritted his teeth with anger, "Y-You mean...you don't know who I am?!"

Frieza perked a brow, "Should I?"

Begu growled, "The day that Octoria was destroyed. That time you took in two lackeys. You don't remember?!"

The Frost Demon thought to himself for a moment.

Upon remembering, his eyes widened with shock. He then smirked fiendishly.

"Oh ho ho ho!", laughed Frieza, "Now I remember. You're that Octorian who called me...what was the word again? Oh yes, a 'prick'."

He continued, "I even recall hearing the screams and cries of the various Octorians that were on the planet that day. It's rather convenient that all of the planet's warriors were already recuited in my army years ago. Because if that weren't the case, you definitely would have been the last living remnant of Octoria."

Frieza grinned evilly at Begu, "Now that would have been really sad, wouldn't it?"

Veins of rage popped all over Begu's forehead as he quickly charged up. He fired a massive ki beam at the tyrant, who easily blocked it, diverting the beam towards a nearby cliff.

Frieza sighed and asked, "Is that all?"

Begu screamed as he rapidly flew towards Frieza, " ** _I'LL KILL YOU!"_**

He was instantly knocked out with a single punch from the tyrant, and he fell to the ground.

* * *

Everyone (with the exception of Vegeta and Mafin) winced as Begu was knocked out cold.

Mafin sighed and turned to 21, "I can't beleive this is actually happen..."

Vegeta shook his head, "Serves him right. That fool never stood a chance."

Bulma scoffed, "Seriously, Vegeta?"

Back at the site, Frieza cracked his knuckles and said, "That was a nice bit of comedy. Now then Father, let's resume waiting for that monkey."

King Cold nodded, "Of course."

Goku growled, " _I gotta save Begu! Now!"_

He teleported away, startling everyone.

The Saiyan arrived at Begu's spot, picked up the small Octorian, and placed him on his back.

Frieza smiled, "Hello, Goku. I see you've finally arrived. And you're acting as the clean-up crew, how wonderful."

Goku gave a vicious glare at the Emperor.

Suddenly, the Saiyan sensed an entirely new ki signature behind him.

He turned around, and saw a mysterious purple-haired youth standing nearby.

Frieza's eyes widened, "Who is this?"

The mysterious youth, who had a confused expression on his face, thought to himself, " _Oh no..."_


	27. The Mysterious Youth's Message

Confused by this new warrior's sudden appearance, Goku asked, "Um, can I help you?"

The youth thought, " _I guess there's no use hiding it now. I better finish this quickly."_

He let out a powerful yell as his hair slowly began to float upwards.

Goku's eyes widened, " _No way! Is he really-?"_

At that moment, the youth's purple hair turned golden blonde, his eyes turned greenish-blue, and his muscle mass gained a slight increase.

He had transformed into a Super Saiyan, like Goku once did on Namek.

Frieza stammered, "Th-Those eyes...he has the same eyes..."

The emperor fearfully stepped back a few feet, surprising King Cold.

The youth shouted, "Goku! Get out of the way! Now!"

Confused, Goku asked, "Wait, how do you even know my name?!"

"No time to explain! Now go!"

Goku, perplexed by this youth, stammered, "I...um...okay!"

He teleported back to where the others were, and placed the unconscious Begu near Mafin and 21.

* * *

The youth charged up and yelled, " **MASENKO-HA!"**

He fired out a massive golden beam straight at Frieza, vaporizing him instantly.

The mystery teen fired a smaller blast straight through King Cold's heart, killing him.

He fired one more attack at the Frieza Force mothership, destroying it completely.

Everyone was left with shocked expressions on their faces.

Vegeta thought, " _ **Another** Super Saiyan?! How is that possible?!"_

Goku's shocked expression slowly turned into a smile, " _Incredible. Another Super Saiyan. I better chat with this guy for a bit..."_

The youth transformed back to his base form, and floated over to the group.

He asked, "Goku, can I talk to you in private? It's urgent."

Goku nodded and said, "Sure."

The Saiyan flew upwards, and Krillin stammered, "W-Wait! Goku! Are you sure we can trust this guy?"

Goku looked at down at his friend, "It's going to be alright, Krillin. This guy doesn't look all that dangerous. Just let me talk to him for a bit."

He and the mysterious youth flew off at a safe distance from the group.

* * *

Goku asked, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

The youth replied, "Well, first off, my name is Trunks. And I'm from the future."

Goku's eyes widened in shock, "THE **FUTURE**?!"

Trunks pleaded, "Please calm down!"

Goku nervously exclaimed, "R-Right! Sorry!"

Trunks continued, "Anyways, I came back here to deliver a very important message."

Goku raised an eyebrow, "What kind of message?"

The youth closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He explained, "Three years from now, on May 12th, at approximately 10:30 am, two androids will appear on an island nine miles from South City. They are the most ruthless monsters you will ever see, and they will stop at nothing to cause-"

"Wait a minute.", interrupted Goku, "Androids? As in...ones from the Red Ribbon Army?"

Trunks' eyes widened, "Y-Yes! How do you know about their existence?"

Goku smiled, "I have this researcher lady friend named Android 21! We went on this trip around the world, and we ended up seeing-"

"Hold on! There's an Android...21? H-How?!", questioned the youth.

Goku asked, "Why are you curious? Is she important in your future?"

"No. I've haven't encountered her at all.", replied Trunks.

"Huh, that's kinda odd...", said a confused Goku.

Trunks sighed, "Then again, I never really searched the globe to see if there were other androids. Perhaps, I'll meet her later on in my timeline."

He then inquired, "So, this android is your...friend?"

Goku happily replied, "Yeah! She's actually a really nice person once you get to know her!"

Trunks nodded and asked, "How did you guys find 21?"

Goku explained, "These two former Frieza Force lackeys named Mafin and Begu found her in some old laboratory."

"Mafin and Begu...I've heard of those two. Mother told me that they were fun people to hang out with, and great fighters as well. Unfortunately, their time was cut short, as they killed by the androids. My timeline's androids.", said Trunks as he folded his arms.

Goku nodded, "So, these two androids are far more dangerous, I assume."

"Yes.", continued Trunks, who wanted to get back on the original subject,

"And as for everyone else, they are all killed too."

"EVERYONE?! EVEN VEGETA, PICCOLO, GOHAN, AND KRILLIN?!", yelled Goku.

"Yes. Everyone."

Goku fearfully asked, "Wh-What happens to me? Do I get killed by the androids?"

Trunks shook his head, "No, you don't. You end up dying of a heart disease."

Deeply horrified by this future news, Goku angrily clenched his fists, and glared at the ground.

A new question then crossed his mind.

Goku looked back up at Trunks, "Wait, why not just use the Namekian Dragon Balls to bring me and everyone else back?"

Trunks sadly replied, "When I was younger, my mother tried going out to New Namek. She took me along, and we went in a brand new spaceship. By the time we were several feet in the air, the androids spotted us, and they blasted the ship into pieces. Thankfully, we managed to escape without any injuries."

He let out a small sigh, and continued, "She tried again several more times after that, but the results were always the same. Eventually, she just gave up. From then on, we were essentially trapped on Earth."

Goku growled, "Darn! So you were just playthings to those monsters!"

Trunks looked down, and clenched his fists tightly, "My future is a living nightmare thanks to them."

He looked back up at Goku, with a sense of desperation in his eyes.

"That's why I need you to tell everyone about this. Your friends, my mother, my father, and your son!"

"Right! I will!", said Goku with a determined voice.

The Saiyan's eyes widened as he realized something.

"U-Um, who are your parents again?", asked Goku, deeply confused at the mention of them.

Trunks nervously replied, "V-Vegeta...and Bulma."

Shocked by this other bit of future news, Goku let out a massive scream, and fell to the ground.

"Th-Th-Those two are your parents?!"

Trunks nodded to confirm this new revelation.

"Oh, wow. I never imagined that they would get together. I figured Bulma would go for Yamcha, but Vegeta?", said Goku as he stood back up.

Trunks explained, "I remember my mother telling me that when she saw that Yamcha was acting sleazy, she got fed up with him, and they broke up. Then, two weeks later, she went to check on Vegeta, and over the course of a year, it just...happened."

" _Huh! Well, what do you know!_ ", thought Goku.

The future warrior pulled out an unknown capsule from his pocket, "This capsule contains the heart medicine. If you take it several times throughout these three years, then it should combat the virus."

He threw the capsule over to Goku, who instantly caught it with one hand.

Goku happily said, "Thanks a lot, Trunks! We'll make sure to train hard!"

The youth smiled, "It was an honor meeting you, Goku. I hope things turn out alright for your future. I'll make sure to see you again in three years!"

With that, Trunks flew off, leaving Goku to contemplate on his new mission.

"Hmmm...", thought aloud the Saiyan, "How I am gonna explain this...?"

"HEY! GOKU!", yelled out Krillin.

Goku turned around and saw everyone run up to him (or fly over to him in the case of Piccolo, Vegeta, and 21).

Krillin nervously asked, "H-How'd the conversation go? What'd he say?"

Bulma added, "Yeah, tell us!"

Goku replied, "The kid said that in three years, there will be two androids coming to some island!"

"And?", inquired Bulma, who motioned her friend to continue.

Goku stammered, "W-Well, I, uh~"

" _Darn! H-How do I explain this any further?!"_ , nervously thought the Saiyan.

Piccolo spoke up, "Allow me take over. I already heard."

The Namekian began explaining everything to the group (well, everything except for Trunks' parentage).

After he finished, most of the group was left speechless.

21 , in particular, was horrified by this future news. Wanting to contemplate on this matter, she flew over to a cliff to be alone with her thoughts.

Yamcha smirked, "It's too far fetched for me. That kid could just be claiming he's from the future..."

Bulma chuckled, "Yeah! I mean, a **time** machine?!"

"If you don't want to believe, fine. Stay out of our way.", harshly stated Piccolo, "But I'll make sure to train myself, because I have no intent on dying once more."

Just then, Mafin and everyone else heard a new sound coming from above. They all looked upwards, and saw Trunks' time machine hovering in the air. The vehicle quickly teleported away afterwards.

Mafin looked at the ground and thought, " _So, another time traveler exists. I wonder if Kappukeki's met this guy..."_

Tien calmly said, "I'll train."

Krillin nodded in agreement, "Me too."

Yamcha added, "Same here. I'm pretty much convinced now..."

The three-eyed martial artist folded his arms, "All right then, we meet again in three years. Where, and when will it be?"

Piccolo replied, "May 12th, around 10am, on an island 9km southwest from South City. We should get there an hour earlier...we'll meet at 9."

Bulma gasped and spoke up, "Hey! I was just thinking!"

The Z-Fighters turned their attention to the scientist.

Krillin asked, "What is it, Bulma?"

She proposed, "Why don't we attack Dr. Gero right now? We can just use the Dragon Balls to ask Shenron, and he'll tell us! Then, you guys won't have to go through all that in three years!"

"IF YOU TRY TO DO THAT, I'LL KILL YOU!", angrily shouted Vegeta, "UNDERSTAND?!"

Bulma's eye twitched and she shouted back, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! THIS ISN'T A GAME! THE EARTH'S FATE IS RIDING ON THIS!"

She went over to Goku and grabbed him by the arms, "Don't you agree, Goku?!"

The martial artist sighed, "I'm sorry Bulma, but...I want to fight these androids too. And besides, it would be kinda cowardly to take out Dr. Gero without a fair fight."

Bulma growled and yelled up to the sky, " **AUGH! THESE SAIYANS! THEY'RE SUCH BATTLE JUNKIES!** "

She turned to the other Z-Fighters and desperately pleaded, "At least you guys have some sense, right?! If you die, you can never come back to life!"

Tien said, "But I want to know just what I can do in battle. And if I die..."

He clenched his fists tightly, "...then it was an honorable death."

Yamcha grinned, "I agree! I'm with you all the way dude!"

Piccolo nodded, "He's right."

Bulma's jaw dropped as she stared at the rest of the fighters in disbelief, "I...I can't believe this..."

She turned to Mafin and asked, "M-Mafin, you believe me, right? You think we should take out those androids now?"

"Well, u-um...", stammered Mafin.

The scientist looked at him with desperation in her eyes.

Mafin nervously gupled and replied, "I'm really sorry, Bulma, but I agree with them. Even though Frieza's gone, we still have to protect this world from powerful threats!"

Bulma facepalmed herself, "Not you too..."

She then exclaimed, "Wait! There's still 21!"

Bulma looked around for the android, but saw that she was nowhere to be seen.

Confused, Bulma asked Mafin, "Hey, where'd 21 go?"

Mafin tried to sense the android's energy, and after sensing it, he looked over to see that she was standing on a distant cliff.

The Pesutorian pointed at the cliff, "She's up there."

Bulma grabbed onto Mafin's arm and shouted, "Let's head over, pronto! I gotta have a lady back me up!"

Mafin blurted out, "Um, okay!"

He hoisted Begu's unconscious body on his back, and he flew over to the cliff.

21 turned around and saw her three companions, "O-Oh! Hello Mafin, and Bulma..."

Mafin asked, "Are you alright?"

21 let out a sigh, "No. That was a lot to take in."

Bulma grinned, "So, do **_you_** think we should take out Dr. Gero right now? I mean, I can't be the only one who thinks of this, right?!"

The android replied, "I believe we should train to face them."

Bulma facepalmed herself once again and thought, " _You gotta be kidding me!"_

21 continued, "And I've decided that I'm joining in the fight."

Shocked by this, Mafin exclaimed, "Wait, what?! But I thought you said-"

"I know. But upon hearing Piccolo say that you, Begu, and everyone else die out in the future, and that I am nowhere to be found...it deeply terrifies me.", explained the android as she clutched her heart.

She placed her hands on Mafin's shoulders, "That is why I want you and the others to teach me! I want to learn how to fight back against these other androids! So that I don't lose the people I care about the most!"

As she stared at Mafin directly in the eyes, the Pesutorian's heart began racing.

In a determined voice, he said, "We **_will_** teach you. I'll make sure let the others know."

21 smiled warmly, "Thank you, Mafin. I really appreciate this."

The android proceeded to happily embrace the orange alien, and he embraced her back.

Bulma smiled at the two of them. At least there was **_some_** sort of wholesomeness in this scary situation they were all in...

At that moment, Begu instantly regained consciousness, startling everyone near him.

He blurted out, "Wh-What happened?!"

Mafin replied, "Some purple-haired teen took out Frieza and that big guy."

Begu exclaimed, "What?!"

Bulma added, "Yeah! Turns out he's a young Super Saiyan from the future!"

"WHAT?! HOW LONG WAS I OUT?!"

21 replied, "Approximately...25 minutes."

"Geez...", muttered Begu as he rubbed his head.

Mafin put a hand on Begu's shoulder and asked, "Are you alright, though?"

Begu nodded, "Yeah. Physically, at least..."

"Good, good.", smiled Mafin.

He then slapped Begu across the face, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU DO REALIZE YOU COULD'VE BEEN KILLED!"

Begu exclaimed, "I know, but I wanted to take Frieza head on! You of all people should understand where I'm coming from!"

Mafin replied, "Dude, I absolutely understand. I was with you on the day Octoria was destroyed. But that's no excuse to take on a powerful tyrant like Frieza!"

Begu growled, "I had to avenge our loved ones somehow!"

"That was an incredibly _stupid_ way of doing so!"

"So, the fact that _**he**_ killed them means nothing to you?! Doesn't that make you want to kill him yourself?!"

Mafin pinched his nose in frustration and sighed, "Of course it means everything to me. But I know when to draw the line when someone is far too powerful!"

Begu shook his head in disbelief and said, "You just don't get it. Do you?"

The Octorian glared at the ground, "And now Frieza's gone...but I wasn't the one to do it."

Begu turned away from the group, and blasted off into the sky.

"BEGU! GET BACK HERE!", shouted Mafin.

The Pesutorian was about to fly off, but he stopped when 21 placed her hand on his shoulder.

She said, "Mafin, calm down. I think Begu needs time to sort out his thoughts. We should let him be alone for a while."

Mafin sighed deeply, "You're right."

Mafin, 21, and Bulma all looked up at the sky once more, hoping their friend would be okay.


	28. Begu and The Spider Queen

Begu soared through the sky, not sure of where he was going to go.

He flew across various locations, until finally, he came across Mount Paozu.

The Octorian landed in a random forest, and angrily fired out a small ki blast on a nearby tree, scorching it.

He proceeded to perform the same attack on another tree, and another.

Eventually, he began firing out multiple attacks at a rapid pace, and ended up destroying several trees at once.

Begu continued to do this again, and again, because at this point he didn't care about what he was doing.

At this point, he only had one image on his mind: Frieza.

His attacks grew louder and louder, and they made several animals scurry away in fear.

They even managed to wake up Queen Shannon, who growled with anger.

The spider queen crawled out of her cave, and thought, " _What the heck is going on?!"_

Her eyes widened with shock upon seeing various ki explosions coming from the nearby forest.

"No...don't tell me...", she muttered.

The queen scurried over to where the ki explosions were occurring, and saw Begu firing out several ki blasts.

She grinned and thought, " _Yes! Now's my chance to finally test out my new skills!"_

Shannon yelled, "HEY, PURPLE GUY!"

Begu instantly stopped firing and turned to face the spider queen.

Begu sighed, "What do you want, Shannon?"

The queen replied, "FIGHT ME! RIGHT NOW!"

Begu blurted out, "W-Wait...what?"

The queen scurried up to the Octorian and let out a series of rapid fire blasts, all of which Begu easily dodged.

She unleashed a series of punches, and Begu blocked those as well.

Begu tightly grabbed the spider queen's wrists, and pulled her closer to him.

He sternly said, "Listen, I'm not in the mood. And I'm definitely not gonna fight you. So just give up now."

She scoffed, "Give up?! Never!"

The queen smiled, "As your ultimate rival, I WILL get you to fight me! Even if I have to resort to juvenile means to do so!"

She spat in the Octorian's face, which made him recoil with disgust.

Begu sighed deeply, and wiped the saliva off him, "Okay then. You wanna go?"

He jabbed the spider queen in the stomach, and leaped up high into the air.

The Octorian quickly powered up, and angrily yelled, " ** _LET'S GO!"_**

He blasted himself towards Shannon, who proceeded to do the same.

They both engaged in a powerful grapple lock, and Shannon started off the battle by headbutting Begu in the face.

Begu retailiated by grabbing Shannon by her throat, flying all the way up into the sky, and unleashing palm strike after palm strike, which the queen successfully blocked using her new flame shields.

Shannon descended to the ground, and she broke her fall by landing on a large tree branch.

As Begu flew towards her, the queen formed a flame sword, and slashed Begu in the face, which the Octorian easily shook off.

Shannon sighed and thought, " _Right. Forgot this guy was immune to fire. Well, it was worth a shot."_

Begu asked, "Ready to call off this stupid battle?"

The queen's right eye twitched with anger.

Did he just call this battle 'stupid'?! Months of hard work being tossed aside...just like **_that_**?!

No. She couldn't let this stand.

The queen yelled, "NEVER!"

With the use of her flames, she propelled herself towards Begu. The Octorian proceeded to do the same. In an instant, both fighters punched each other in the jaw, simultaneously.

Begu quickly shook off the blow, and with a double fist strike, he bashed down on the queen's head, sending her crashing to the ground. He flew down to meet up with his opponent.

To his surprise, Shannon hopped up to her spider legs, and grinned, "I'm not done yet!"

She sent several elbow jabs at Begu, to which the purple alien narrowly dodged. He growled at Shannon, who smirked confidently.

Her smirk quickly faded when, to her surprise, the Octorian charged up, and unleashed a massive ki attack.

He yelled, " _ **SEE YA IN HELL!**_ "

She dodged the attack by crawling onto a nearby oak tree.

As the blast destroyed a mountain in the distance, Shannon laughed, "HAH! Is that really the best you got?!"

Begu replied, "I'm just getting warmed up!"

Shannon exclaimed, "Well, then! Bring it on!"

The two opponents lunged out at one another, and they continued to clash fists.

Their battle went on for two hours, with neither opponent showing signs of giving up.

Eventually, Begu began panting with exhaustion, and dropped down to one knee.

The queen grinned, "Looks like you're finally ready to lose! Victory for Shannon!"

Begu looked up and glared at her, "Sh-Shut your mouth! I'm not giving up yet!"

"Why not? So you don't go home crying to your mommy?", smirked Shannon.

"No! It's so that I don't lose to you like I lost to Frieza!"

The queen raised an eyebrow, "Okay, this is the _**third**_ time I've heard about this Frieza guy. Why is he so important to you?"

Begu angrily hissed, "That's none of your business!"

Shannon declared, "Well, it is NOW! I wanna know everything!"

She placed a hand on Begu's shoulder, "We ARE rivals, after all."

Begu growled and swatted her hand away, "We are NOT rivals! Mafin and I are just another pair of obstacles in your quest for world domination."

Shannon frowned, "I'm not interested in that anymore."

Begu chuckled, "Oh, _really_? Why is that? Is it because Goku gave you a nasty beat down?"

Shannon exclaimed, "It's because everyone on this planet is stronger than me!"

Begu asked, "Who told you that? Goku?"

Shannon replied, "Well, yeah, in a way. He told me he has allies, whom I assume are just as strong as he is. Plus, there are _two_ other members of his race that are currently alive. Because of this, my plan is ruined!"

Begu thought, " _So **that's** what they were really chatting about. I only remember hearing Goku laughing about this lady's stupid name."_

Shannon continued, "Now, I only desire to be the ultimate rival of you and your skinny orange friend."

"First off, we have names. I'm Begu, and that orange guy is Mafin. Second, why the two of us?"

"Because you have this unique tag team dynamic that I want to fight back against!"

Begu scratched his head in confusion, "So, wait. You just want to fight _us_...and not fight Goku, or Piccolo, or anyone else on this planet?"

Shannon shook her head no, "Nope! You guys are the only ones!"

Begu opened his mouth to further question her decision, but instead he sighed, "Y'know...I actually don't care anymore. Because right now, I have my own issues to deal with."

Shannon smirked, "What? Your friend left you or something?"

Begu shook his head, "No. Like I said before, it's none of your business."

"But we're rivals now!"

"Again, we're not rivals! Now leave me alone!"

Begu turned around and began to walk away.

Shannon scoffed and folded her arms, "Stupid purple alien. He's probably just being a whiny loser who's angry that he's still stuck on this planet."

Upon hearing those words, Begu ran back over and sent a right hook to the queen's face.

He screamed, " ** _YOU WANNA KNOW WHY I CAN'T GO BACK HOME?!_** ** _MY PLANET WAS DESTROYED BY FRIEZA!_ _MAFIN AND I WERE FORCED TO WORK FOR HIM!"_**

Shannon's eyes widened in shock, "I...I had no idea..."

" _ **AND NOW THAT STUPID TYRANT RETURNS AND I ACT ALL STUPID ABOUT IT! I'LL NEVER GET TO PROPERLY AVENGE MY PARENTS! IT'S ALL OVER!"**_

Begu then burst into sobs and collasped onto his knees.

Shannon put a hand to her chin, and tried to process this new information.

 _"So, that Frieza guy single-handedly destroyed Begu's entire planet? Like it was nothing?! Just how many powerful freaks are there in the universe?! Are they fire-proof as well? Can they shapeshift? A-Are they after world domination, or galactic domination?!"_

All these questions swirled around the queen's head, but they would have to be saved for later, as she still had her opponent to deal with.

Shannon looked on at Begu, who was continuing to sob.

" _I understand now. Back when I said that 'future master' stuff, this guy acted crazy and unfocused while fighting me...probably because he was reminded of the fact that he served under a powerful tyrant once."_

For the first time ever, Shannon felt sorry for this purple alien. Even though she didn't know Begu well, she could see that he was a person who went through so much stuff, and lost almost everyone close to him.

It made her feel horrible for attacking him so recklessly earlier, as he truly wasn't in the mood for a fight.

The spider queen softly spoke up, "Purple...I-I mean, Begu-"

"Wh-What...are you...still doing here?! Do you wanna... _ **gloat**_ some more?!", asked Begu in between sobs.

Shannon calmly replied, "No."

The queen let out a deep sigh. She knew what she had to do.

Thankfully, no one else was around to see this.

The queen crawled closer to her opponent, and began embracing him, much to his surprise.

Shannon embraced him tightly, believing that Begu needed this.

Eventually, after several moments, the spider queen released the Octorian, and affectionately placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Feeling better now?", asked a concerned Shannon.

Begu sadly replied, "No..."

He sat on the ground, and the queen followed suit by sitting down next to him, albeit in her strange, spider-like way.

Begu rubbed his head, "You wouldn't understand. It's kind of a long story."

Shannon smiled, "Hey, as long as you talk about your issues and get them out of the way, I don't mind. Now, explain everything to me."

Begu proceeded to explain what happened on the day Octoria was destroyed, how he and Mafin escaped the Frieza Force, and the recent events that occurred prior to his arrival at Mount Paozu.

"So, from what I understand, this purple-haired Saiyan kid from the future ruined your chance to finally kill Frieza?", inquired Shannon.

Begu glumly nodded in response.

He groaned, "Why the heck didn't I attack that prick of a tyrant immediately?! He was RIGHT THERE! I just _**had**_ to act all macho!"

The Octorian angrily facepalmed himself.

"Hey, at least Frieza's actually dead now!", reasoned Shannon, "You're finally free of his wrath!"

Begu frowned, "Yeah, but I'm still responsible for causing the deaths of millions of people, including my family. And it's all due to that bastard."

"Well, that _is_ true.", agreed Shannon, "But, what about the Dragon Balls? Can't they revive Octoria?"

Begu shook his head no, "Octoria was destroyed two years ago, so the Dragon Balls can't do anything about it. Mafin and I bet it's the same thing for the Namekian Dragon Balls."

"There are _**other**_ Dragon Balls?!", gasped Shannon, "Like, from another planet?!"

Begu nodded, "Yeah. But like I said, we bet they have the same rules as the Earth's orbs."

Shannon inquired, "Are you sure about that?"

Begu snapped, "Look, I don't really know, alright?! We never bothered to ask!"

"Okay, okay! You don't have to blow up at me! Sheesh!", angrily exclaimed Shannon as she held up her hands in defense.

Begu sighed, "At this point, Mafin, and the Earth gang...are now the only family I have left."

"I'm really sorry, Begu...", said Shannon with a sorrowful tone of voice.

Begu clenched the various blades of grass near him.

He growled, "I'll never get to kill him now. I had one shot, and I screwed it up."

Begu's body began trembling with anger, " _ **AND MY PLANET AND PARENTS WILL REMAIN UNAVENG-"**_

He was silenced when Shannon rubbed the Octorian's back in a soothing manner.

She decided to take a page out of her assistant's book, and try to help out the way he always did.

"Sshh. Calm down.", said Shannon, in a far more quieter voice than normal.

She smiled at Begu, "Take some deep breaths."

Begu questioned, "What? Why?"

Shannon replied, "It usually calms me down when I'm stressed out. Remember when my assistant helped me back in the cave?"

Begu (who clearly didn't remember squat about that event) replied, "Y-Yeah. Well, kinda. It's been a while."

Shannon smiled, "Alright, then we're gonna take some deep, calming breaths together. Ready?"

Begu nodded, "Sure."

"Follow my lead.", stated the queen as she closed her eyes.

She inhaled, and exhaled out. Begu closed his own eyes and followed suit.

"And again."

They both repeated the same process twice.

Afterwards, Shannon opened her eyes and asked, "Now, how was that?"

A smile grew on Begu's face, "That felt...good. Like, really good."

He looked at Shannon and said, "Thanks. I needed that."

"You should really be thanking my assistant. Sometimes I'm amazed by that guy.", said Shannon, who let out a small laugh afterwards.

Begu perked a brow, "You mean that big ol' green guy _actually_ knows what he's doing when it comes to these breathing exercises?"

Shannon nodded, "Yep. Lee's helped me out with my rage-filled outbursts on multiple occasions. The dude even can do some suprisingly decent meditation and yoga."

"Huh. Then, I guess, tell him I said thanks."

"Sure."

The two of them gazed out at a nearby river.

Begu smiled as he thought over what just occured to him.

To think that this spider queen, who nearly a year ago attacked him and Mafin, would be the one to help him calm down...it was unreal to Begu.

Underneath all that evilness, she actually seemed like a decent person.

A new thought immediately crossed the purple alien's mind.

He turned to the queen, "Um, Shannon?"

Shannon looked at the Octorian, "What is it?"

"C-Can I, uh, hang out with you for a bit?", asked Begu, who nervously twiddled his fingers.

Shannon tilted her head to the side, "Uh, why?"

"I kinda wanted to get to know you. I mean, the real you! I-If that's okay...with you."

Shannon's eyes widened in shock.

With the exception of Lee, she had never hung out with anyone else.

It had been _years_ since she last did that.

To see that this purple alien was offering her a chance at a possible (non-spider) friendship again made her feel...happy, on the inside.

The queen smiled, "Sure. Hop on my spider butt."

Begu nodded and floated over to the spider woman.

He carefully sat on her abdomen, and the pair began heading all the way over to the cave.

Upon crawling into the massive crystal caverns deep within it, some of the spiders that were inside hissed at Begu, making him feel uneasy.

The queen whistled out at her spiders, causing them to instantly go silent.

She angrily exclaimed, "Hey! You all better behave yourselves! He's with me!"

Those spiders nodded and crawled away, allowing the pair to get through.

Shannon finally arrived at her room, and Begu hopped off of her.

He looked around the room in awe.

There was a TV, some Christmas lights, a small refrigerator, and a gray, metallic radio sitting near it. And in the middle was a large makeshift couch.

Shannon spoke up, "So, uh, this is my room. What do you think?"

Begu happily replied, "It looks pretty cool! How'd you even find all this stuff?"

Shannon explained, "A few months back, I hitched a ride on the bottom of some big guy's red speeder. He was traveling with some uptight lady-"

"Oh, you mean the Ox-King and Chi-Chi?", asked Begu.

"How do you-?"

"Chi-Chi is Goku's wife, and Ox-King is his father-in-law. I've gone to their house several times."

"Uh...right. Anyways, I stole some stuff at a random thrift store, webbed them all up in a big bag, and hopped right back onto the speeder."

Begu folded his arms in an incredulous manner, "You mean you did _all_ that without either of them noticing?"

"Ee-yup!", smugly smiled the queen as she folded her arms behind her head.

Begu chuckled and shook his head as he walked over to the makeshift couch.

He spotted a Walkman nearby, "And I guess this thingie was also from the thrift store?"

Shannon quickly grabbed the device, "Actually, this 'thingie' is called a Walkman, and it was something that I already owned. Something that I held onto ever since I was little."

"What do you mean?", asked a now confused Begu.

Shannon rubbed her arm in a nervous manner, "I...um...well..."

The queen made odd movements with her hands, trying to think of what to say.

She sighed, "What I mean is that I was actually once human."

Begu's eyes widened in shock, and he shouted, " ** _WHAT?!_** "

Shannon nodded, "Yes, it's true. Let me explain..."


	29. The Spider Queen's Backstory

The queen sighed, "What I mean is that I was actually once human."

Begu's eyes widened in shock, and he shouted, " ** _WHAT?!_** "

Shannon nodded, "Yes, it's true. Let me explain..."

* * *

 ** _Age 750_**

 _The 21st World Martial Arts Tournament has just ended._

 _Everyone was walking out of the building, excitedly chatting about the big battles._

 _A 19-year old Shannon McKenzie was heading out on her Capsule Corp. hover scooter. She had brown hair, pale skin, wore a green hoodie, and a pair of jeans, along with red sneakers. She also wore a small gray-colored backpack, which carried a spiral notebook._

 _The young girl traveled across various city blocks, before finally stopping at a traffic light._

 _Shannon pulled out a tiny spider from her pocket, and happily said, "That was an awesome tournament! Right, Victoria?"_

 _The spider let out a tiny squeak, signifying her enjoyment._

 _Shannon smiled, "It's a good thing I wrote out the moves that some of the fighters used. They could be useful for my daily training!"_

 _The light turned green, and Shannon continued on her travels once more._

 _At that moment, a spaceship flew rapidly across the sky, and a mysterious green canister fell out of the ship's trunk._

 _Shannon saw the strange vehicle and thought, "_ Was that an actual- _"_

 _Just then, the canister impacted on her head, and spilled all over the poor girl._

 _She fell off her scooter and tumbled onto a random sidewalk._

 _Shannon looked up to see her scooter being run over by a speeding hovercar._

 _She_ _rubbed her forehead in pain, wiped most of the gunk off, grabbed her spider, and walked over to a nearby alley._

 _Shannon sighed, "That scooter cost me 1,000 zeni..."_

 _All of a sudden, a sharp pain was sent through her body, and she collapsed to her knees._

 _The girl examined her hands and saw each of her upper four fingers merge into two single digits._

 _Her legs began to shrink rapidly, and a large, gray-colored spider abdomen immediately bursted open from her behind. This was followed up by six,_ _dark-colored spider legs popping out of both sides of the abdomen._

 _Finally, her skin turned into a pale turquoise color_ _, while her hair turned green._

 _Shannon looked down at a nearby puddle, and upon examining her new appearance, she let out a horrified scream. She scurried around uncontrollably, clearly not used to her new spider legs._

 _She tried to see where Victoria was, but upon finding her, she saw that the spider was now a lifeless corpse._

 _The young woman exclaimed, "No! Victoria!"_

 _She covered her mouth as she stammered, "Wh-Why is this happening to me?!"_

 _Fearful and scared for her life, she sat near a dumpster and began quietly sobbing to herself._

* * *

 _Several hours passed and it was now nighttime._

 _Since no one was around to see her,_ _Shannon finally decided to make her escape._ _She took a deep breath, and slowly began crawling out of the alleyway._

 _It took some time, but she eventually made it towards the edge of the island._

 _The girl_ _pulled out a capsule and threw it towards the ocean. It exploded in a puff of smoke, and a small Capsule Corp. boat appeared._

 _Shannon knew that she couldn't let anyone see her like this at the moment, not even her own parents. They would all freak out at the sight of her, and she couldn't let that happen._

 _So, the girl hopped in the boat, and set the coordinates to random._ _The boat immediately took off and sped across the ocean._

 _The next morning, Shannon opened her eyes, and she found that she was on an large island. She stood up, and saw a jungle in the distance._

* * *

"...Now upon seeing this jungle, I was thinking, 'Oh wow! A jungle! Hopefully I can lay low here for a bit!' ", explained Shannon.

Begu (who was now sitting on the couch) spoke up, "But, you do realize it was a _**jungle**_ , right?"

"Yeah...I wasn't thinking clearly.", replied Shannon as she scratched the back of her head.

She continued, "Anyways, I began exploring the jungle for several minutes, and eventually ran into a bunch of giant spiders. I managed to bond with them really fast!"

Begu questioned, "Like, over a few weeks, or-?"

"Nope! In a day!"

The Octorian's eyes widened, "IN A DAY?! HOW?!"

"They all reminded me of Victoria, and her cute little squeaks! They were just wonderful!", happily gushed the queen as she closed her eyes and hugged her chest.

She heard a few chuckles coming from Begu, prompting her to glare at the Octorian, "Is something funny?"

Begu replied, "Yeah! It's kinda funny that you, a supposed 'evil' spider queen, could act so mushy over spiders!"

"Well, I do **love** spiders after all!", grinned Shannon, "I've always held a maternal role over them. Especially _these_ spiders. They're like my children, in a way."

She frowned, "...Except for Big Boy Benny. I don't care about him anymore."

Shannon cleared her throat and continued the tale, "Now, several months passed, and I was still living on the island. I began to believe, that because of my freakish, spider-y appearance, I could never be accepted by my own parents, my friends, nor the general public, ever again."

"That's really sad...", said Begu with a sorrowful tone of voice.

Shannon nodded in agreement, "I felt that I needed to become an over-the-top villain, not only to let out my anger on how spiders were typically treated by people, not only to embrace the unsightly creature I had become...but also so that I wouldn't have to dwell on how I basically left my loved ones behind."

Begu frowned, "I...I'm really sorry, Shannon."

"It's fine. It's been ten years since I transformed, so I bet everyone I knew back then has probably forgotten about me. ", said Shannon with a smile.

She crawled over to her TV set and adjusted the antennas to make them less crooked.

Begu let out a scoff of disbelief, "How the heck can you say that?! They're probably still concerned!"

Shannon shrugged, "Meh, I doubt it. I thought of that possibility once, but I've since moved on."

The queen let out a soft laugh, "I mean, would they even want to _**see**_ a disgusting freak like me?"

She turned around and saw that the Octorian was now starting to feel incredibly uncomfortable-no doubt due to the rather tragic and sad implications of the story.

Realizing her mistake, Shannon nervously darted her eyes around the room, trying to figure out what to say next.

Her eyes widened, "Oh! Wanna hear some music to get your mind off of my origin?"

Begu, still unsettled by the queen's story, blurted out, "U-Um, sure..."

The queen turned around and proceeded to turn on the radio.

She adjusted the knobs to various radio stations, before finding a station that was playing retro tunes.

One of which was playing the very start of Taylor Dayne's "With Every Beat Of My Heart".

Shannon sighed wistfully, "I haven't heard this one in forever..."

Begu's eyes widened in shock, "Is that Taylor Dayne?!"

"Wait, you know about Taylor Dayne?!", excitedly asked Shannon as she scurried up to her friend.

Begu chuckled, "Master Roshi usually leaves his radio on, so I tend to listen to some old songs every now and then, like this one."

He then inquired, "How do you know about Taylor Dayne?"

The queen laughed, "Dude, I grew up listening to her songs! I'm older than you, remember?!"

As the song began to enter its chorus, Shannon happily said, "Here comes my favorite part!"

Begu exclaimed, "Ooh! Let's sing together!"

"Really?!"

"Heck yeah!"

And so the pair happily sang along, although in a rather terrible off-key fashion. They didn't care about that part though. They were too deep in the moment to even care.

Afterwards, the pair of odd friends did various activities together, such as watch bad action movies while chowing down on fresh Mount Paozu apples, and play several rounds of (non-romantic) Truth or Dare.

* * *

Three hours later, the spider queen and the Octorian were sitting near the outside edges of the cave, staring at the red-orange skies above. They each held a can of orange soda.

Shannon smiled, "This is kinda peaceful."

Begu nodded in agreement, "Yeah."

They stared up at the sky for several more moments.

Eventually, Begu sighed, "Y'know...do you sometimes ever look at yourself in a mirror, or some other reflective surface, and wonder, 'What the heck happened to me, and what happened to the good ol' days?' "

Shannon said, "Back when things were simple, and you didn't have to deal with angry thoughts, or constant annoyances every other day."

"Back when Mafin and I weren't Frieza Force lackeys..."

"Or back when I wasn't this spider mutant..."

"Or how your best friend/brother tells you you've done a really stupid and risky thing, like taking on a incredibly powerful space tyrant...and he's right about it."

Shannon asked, "You're still talking about Frieza, right?"

Begu shook his head yes to confirm.

Shannon chuckled, "Yeah. I somewhat know the feeling. Looking back, it was dumb of me trying to take on a Saiyan martial artist. I just rushed into that fight without really thinking."

Begu thought, " _Yeah, that **was** pretty stupid..."_

Shannon awkwardly rubbed her arm, "I admit, I may rag on Lee for acting so pea-brained sometimes, but there are occasions where even **I** don't think things through."

She let out a rather large yawn, "In fact, back when I was younger, my parents would rag on me for doing idiotic stuff, and it'd drive me crazy!"

The queen looked at her soda can, "Now, I'm nearly almost 30, and I still can't figure out how I end up doing incredibly stupid and risky stuff. I sometimes wonder how Lee puts up with me."

Begu held up his drink and smiled, "Welp, then I guess, cheers to hopefully figuring things out in this here world of ours."

Shannon smirked, "You said it, my dude."

The pair clinked their soda cans together, and proceeded to drink their beverages. They each looked at the sky once more, which was starting to fade into a dark shade of blue.

* * *

At nighttime, Begu arrived back at Kame House, and he knocked on the door.

The door opened to reveal Mafin, who exclaimed, "Begu! You're back!"

The Octorian smiled, "Hey!"

"Where did you go?", asked a concerned Mafin, "You were gone for several hours!"

"I went to Mount Paozu to cool off and train for a bit.", replied Begu, who carefully left out the parts with him and Shannon. He _really_ didn't want to risk freaking out Mafin at this hour.

Mafin sighed with relief, "Okay. That's good."

Begu awkwardly rubbed his arm, "Look, dude. I'm really sorry for acting like a jerk earlier today. You were right about what you said."

Mafin said, "It's fine. I was also acting a little too harsh, and I really shouldn't have slapped-"

"No, I deserved that slap.", interrupted Begu, "I _**was**_ acting stupid back there."

He smirked, "It was a pretty good one too! It was like, 'BLAM!' "

The duo laughed at the memory, and smiled at one another.

Begu asked, "So, we're good?"

Mafin grinned, "Absolutely."

He opened the door further and let Begu inside.

"So, what happened to that Saiyan kid from the future? And what were you guys doing while I was gone?", questioned Begu as he walked over to his bed.

Mafin replied, "Well, it's a long story."

Begu smiled, "Hey, I don't mind. Now tell me."

Mafin took a deep breath, and began his recap, "It turns out that the future kid comes from a timeline where..."


	30. Author's Note

**Dear Readers,**

 **After thinking about this for several weeks, I have decided that I am officially cancelling _Mafin and Begu's Magnificent Adventures._**

 **It was a _really_ hard decision, but I think it's for the best.**

 **After analyzing the overall plot so far, I realize that it is starting to become very overstuffed and convoluted.**

 **Specifically, it's due to Kappukeki's subplot, and the destruction of Octoria, Begu's planet.**

 **See, in my mind, the story would reveal that Kappukeki was secretly trying to prevent Mafin and Begu from getting killed by Evil Android 21, who would have popped up around the time of the Androids Arc, and taken over for Perfect Cell as the big villain.** **Evil 21 would have also created a bunch of clones of the main Z-Fighters, and there would have been chaos all around the world.**

 **Although, later on, I remembered that _Dragon Ball Fighterz_ already did the clone story, which made that whole potential conflict rather pointless.**

 **I also realized that the Kappukeki plot (her bringing Good 21 over to Age 764) was filled with a massive plothole: if she wanted to save Mafin and Begu, why didn't she just go over to Age 779 (the year _Fighterz_ takes place in), and help out there?**

 **Second, Octoria's destruction, or rather the angst surronding its destruction, became hollow the more I thought about it. And the main reason are the Dragon Balls. They can easily revive anything, so the angst ends up becoming pointless as well.**

* * *

 **I have other things in my story that I'm dissatisfied with, such as:**

 **-Queen Shannon's little character arc. I believed it was rushed out too quickly, and she really didn't get any time to shine as a villain.**

 **-I felt that Android 21 (in this story)** **just didn't** **feel** **like the original, in-game 21 that I became invested in (and the main reason why _MBMA_ exists in the first place). Her search for her past also felt a little rushed to me.**

* * *

 **I deeply apologize for this sudden cancellation. Writing this story was a severe challenge, and I admit, I almost went nuts trying to make sense of everything in it.**

 **That is why I am planning on doing a reboot, this time set during _Fighterz._**

 **There, it will mainly follow the A21 arc (the final arc of the game) to make for a much more digestible story.**

* * *

 **One positive thing I will say about this story is that I absolutely loved working on Chapters 1-15. I feel that they are the best chapters, and I have really fond memories of working on them.**

 **Another positive thing is that this story is now 30 chapters long, making it the _longest_ fanfiction I have ever worked on. ****I am absolutely proud of that too.**

 **I am also really thankful that you guys have followed this story, from the beginning, all the way to the end.**

 **It really means a lot to me.**

 **So, for one last time, this is Story Nado signing off.**

 **Farewell.**


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